TY - JOUR A1 - Ollier, Lana A1 - Metz, Florence A1 - Nuñez-Jimenez, Alejandro A1 - Späth, Leonhard A1 - Lilliestam, Johan T1 - The European 2030 climate and energy package BT - do domestic strategy adaptations precede EU policy change? JF - Policy sciences N2 - The European Union’s 2030 climate and energy package introduced fundamental changes compared to its 2020 predecessor. These changes included a stronger focus on the internal market and an increased emphasis on technology-neutral decarbonization while simultaneously de-emphasizing the renewables target. This article investigates whether changes in domestic policy strategies of leading member states in European climate policy preceded the observed changes in EU policy. Disaggregating strategic change into changes in different elements (goals, objectives, instrumental logic), allows us to go beyond analyzing the relative prioritization of different goals, and to analyze how policy requirements for reaching those goals were dynamically redefined over time. To this end, we introduce a new method, which based on insights from social network analysis, enables us to systematically trace those strategic chances. We find that shifts in national strategies of the investigated member states preceded the shift in EU policy. In particular, countries reframed their understanding of supply security, and pushed for the internal electricity market also as a security measure to balance fluctuating renewables. Hence, the increasing focus on markets and market integration in the European 2030 package echoed the increasingly central role of the internal market for electricity supply security in national strategies. These findings also highlight that countries dynamically redefined their goals relative to the different phases of the energy transition. KW - climate and energy policy KW - policy strategy KW - European Union KW - decarbonization KW - renewable energy Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-022-09447-5 SN - 0032-2687 SN - 1573-0891 VL - 55 IS - 1 SP - 161 EP - 184 PB - Springer Science+Business Media LLC CY - New York ER - TY - GEN A1 - Kühn, Michael A1 - Li, Qi A1 - Nakaten, Natalie Christine A1 - Kempka, Thomas T1 - Integrated subsurface gas storage of CO2 and CH4 offers capacity and state-of-the-art technology for energy storage in China T2 - Energy procedia N2 - Integration and development of the energy supply in China and worldwide is a challenge for the years to come. The innovative idea presented here is based on an extension of the “power-to-gas-to-power” technology by establishing a closed carbon cycle. It is an implementation of a low-carbon energy system based on carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) to store and reuse wind and solar energy. The Chenjiacun storage project in China compares well with the German case study for the towns Potsdam and Brandenburg/Havel in the Federal State of Brandenburg based on the Ketzin pilot site for CCS. KW - gas storage KW - carbon dioxide KW - methane KW - hydrogen KW - renewable energy KW - carbon cycle Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.08.039 SN - 1876-6102 VL - 125 SP - 14 EP - 18 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Harmsen, Mathijs A1 - Kriegler, Elmar A1 - van Vuuren, Detlef P. A1 - van der Wijst, Kaj-Ivar A1 - Luderer, Gunnar A1 - Cui, Ryna A1 - Dessens, Olivier A1 - Drouet, Laurent A1 - Emmerling, Johannes A1 - Morris, Jennifer Faye A1 - Fosse, Florian A1 - Fragkiadakis, Dimitris A1 - Fragkiadakis, Kostas A1 - Fragkos, Panagiotis A1 - Fricko, Oliver A1 - Fujimori, Shinichiro A1 - Gernaat, David A1 - Guivarch, Céline A1 - Iyer, Gokul A1 - Karkatsoulis, Panagiotis A1 - Keppo, Ilkka A1 - Keramidas, Kimon A1 - Köberle, Alexandre A1 - Kolp, Peter A1 - Krey, Volker A1 - Krüger, Christoph A1 - Leblanc, Florian A1 - Mittal, Shivika A1 - Paltsev, Sergey A1 - Rochedo, Pedro A1 - van Ruijven, Bas J. A1 - Sands, Ronald D. A1 - Sano, Fuminori A1 - Strefler, Jessica A1 - Arroyo, Eveline Vasquez A1 - Wada, Kenichi A1 - Zakeri, Behnam T1 - Integrated assessment model diagnostics BT - key indicators and model evolution JF - Environmental research letters N2 - Integrated assessment models (IAMs) form a prime tool in informing about climate mitigation strategies. Diagnostic indicators that allow comparison across these models can help describe and explain differences in model projections. This increases transparency and comparability. Earlier, the IAM community has developed an approach to diagnose models (Kriegler (2015 Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 90 45–61)). Here we build on this, by proposing a selected set of well-defined indicators as a community standard, to systematically and routinely assess IAM behaviour, similar to metrics used for other modeling communities such as climate models. These indicators are the relative abatement index, emission reduction type index, inertia timescale, fossil fuel reduction, transformation index and cost per abatement value. We apply the approach to 17 IAMs, assessing both older as well as their latest versions, as applied in the IPCC 6th Assessment Report. The study shows that the approach can be easily applied and used to indentify key differences between models and model versions. Moreover, we demonstrate that this comparison helps to link model behavior to model characteristics and assumptions. We show that together, the set of six indicators can provide useful indication of the main traits of the model and can roughly indicate the general model behavior. The results also show that there is often a considerable spread across the models. Interestingly, the diagnostic values often change for different model versions, but there does not seem to be a distinct trend. KW - diagnostics KW - integrated assessment models KW - climate policy KW - Assessment Report IPCC KW - renewable energy KW - migration KW - AR6 Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abf964 SN - 1748-9326 VL - 16 IS - 5 PB - IOP Publishing CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Luderer, Gunnar A1 - Madeddu, Silvia A1 - Merfort, Leon A1 - Ueckerdt, Falko A1 - Pehl, Michaja A1 - Pietzcker, Robert C. A1 - Rottoli, Marianna A1 - Schreyer, Felix A1 - Bauer, Nico A1 - Baumstark, Lavinia A1 - Bertram, Christoph A1 - Dirnaichner, Alois A1 - Humpenöder, Florian A1 - Levesque, Antoine A1 - Popp, Alexander A1 - Rodrigues, Renato A1 - Strefler, Jessica A1 - Kriegler, Elmar T1 - Impact of declining renewable energy costs on electrification in low-emission scenarios JF - Nature energy N2 - Cost degression in photovoltaics, wind-power and battery storage has been faster than previously anticipated. In the future, climate policy to limit global warming to 1.5–2 °C will make carbon-based fuels increasingly scarce and expensive. Here we show that further progress in solar- and wind-power technology along with carbon pricing to reach the Paris Climate targets could make electricity cheaper than carbon-based fuels. In combination with demand-side innovation, for instance in e-mobility and heat pumps, this is likely to induce a fundamental transformation of energy systems towards a dominance of electricity-based end uses. In a 1.5 °C scenario with limited availability of bioenergy and carbon dioxide removal, electricity could account for 66% of final energy by mid-century, three times the current levels and substantially higher than in previous climate policy scenarios assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The lower production of bioenergy in our high-electrification scenarios markedly reduces energy-related land and water requirements. KW - climate-change mitigation KW - energy modelling KW - renewable energy Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00937-z SN - 2058-7546 N1 - Corrigendum: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01000-1 VL - 7 IS - 1 SP - 32 EP - 42 PB - Nature Publishing Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ollier, Lana A1 - Melliger, Marc André A1 - Lilliestam, Johan T1 - Friends or foes? BT - Political synergy or competition between renewable energy and energy efficiency policy JF - Energies : open-access journal of related scientific research, technology development and studies in policy and management N2 - Energy efficiency measures and the deployment of renewable energy are commonly presented as two sides of the same coin-as necessary and synergistic measures to decarbonize energy systems and reach the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. Here, we quantitatively investigate the policies and performances of the EU Member States to see whether renewables and energy efficiency policies are politically synergistic or if they rather compete for political attention and resources. We find that Member States, especially the ones perceived as climate leaders, tend to prioritize renewables over energy efficiency in target setting. Further, almost every country performs well in either renewable energy or energy efficiency, but rarely performs well in both. We find no support for the assertion that the policies are synergistic, but some evidence that they compete. However, multi-linear regression models for performance show that performance, especially in energy efficiency, is also strongly associated with general economic growth cycles, and not only efficiency policy as such. We conclude that renewable energy and energy efficiency are not synergistic policies, and that there is some competition between them. KW - energy efficiency KW - renewable energy KW - climate policy KW - policy cycle KW - EU KW - policy competition Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/en13236339 SN - 1996-1073 VL - 13 IS - 23 PB - MDPI CY - Basel 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 - Scholz, Carolin A1 - Voigt, Christian C. T1 - Diet analysis of bats killed at wind turbines suggests large-scale losses of trophic interactions JF - Conservation science and practice N2 - Agricultural practice has led to landscape simplification and biodiversity decline, yet recently, energy-producing infrastructures, such as wind turbines, have been added to these simplified agroecosystems, turning them into multi-functional energy-agroecosystems. Here, we studied the trophic interactions of bats killed at wind turbines using a DNA metabarcoding approach to shed light on how turbine-related bat fatalities may possibly affect local habitats. Specifically, we identified insect DNA in the stomachs of common noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula) killed by wind turbines in Germany to infer in which habitats these bats hunted. Common noctule bats consumed a wide variety of insects from different habitats, ranging from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems (e.g., wetlands, farmland, forests, and grasslands). Agricultural and silvicultural pest insects made up about 20% of insect species consumed by the studied bats. Our study suggests that the potential damage of wind energy production goes beyond the loss of bats and the decline of bat populations. Bat fatalities at wind turbines may lead to the loss of trophic interactions and ecosystem services provided by bats, which may add to the functional simplification and impaired crop production, respectively, in multi-functional ecosystems. KW - bat fatalities KW - biodiversity decline KW - food web KW - green-green dilemma KW - renewable energy KW - wind energy production KW - wind energy-biodiversity conflict Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12744 SN - 2578-4854 VL - 4 IS - 7 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schaub, Tonio A1 - Klaassen, Raymond H. G. A1 - Bouten, Willem A1 - Schlaich, Almut E. A1 - Koks, Ben J. T1 - Collision risk of Montagu’s Harriers Circus pygargus with wind turbines derived from high-resolution GPS tracking JF - Ibis : the international journal of avian science ; the journal of the British Ornithologists' Union N2 - Flight behaviour characteristics such as flight altitude and avoidance behaviour determine the species-specific collision risk of birds with wind turbines. However, traditional observational methods exhibit limited positional accuracy. High-resolution GPS telemetry represents a promising method to overcome this drawback. In this study, we used three-dimensional GPS tracking data including high-accuracy tracks recorded at 3-s intervals to investigate the collision risk of breeding male Montagu's Harriers Circus pygargus in the Dutch–German border region. Avoidance of wind turbines was quantified by a novel approach comparing observed flights to a null model of random flight behaviour. On average, Montagu's Harriers spent as much as 8.2 h per day in flight. Most flights were at low altitude, with only 7.1% within the average rotor height range (RHR; 45–125 m). Montagu's Harriers showed significant avoidance behaviour, approaching turbines less often than expected, particularly when flying within the RHR (avoidance rate of 93.5%). For the present state, with wind farms situated on the fringes of the regional nesting range, collision risk models based on our new insights on flight behaviour indicated 0.6–2.0 yearly collisions of adult males (as compared with a population size of c. 40 pairs). However, the erection of a new wind farm inside the core breeding area could markedly increase mortality (up to 9.7 yearly collisions). If repowering of the wind farms was carried out using low-reaching modern turbines (RHR 36–150 m), mortality would more than double, whereas it would stay approximately constant if higher turbines (RHR 86–200 m) were used. Our study demonstrates the great potential of high-resolution GPS tracking for collision risk assessments. The resulting information on collision-related flight behaviour allows for performing detailed scenario analyses on wind farm siting and turbine design, in contrast to current environmental assessment practices. With regard to Montagu's Harriers, we conclude that although the deployment of higher wind turbines represents an opportunity to reduce collision risk for this species, precluding wind energy developments in core breeding areas remains the most important mitigation measure. KW - avoidance rate KW - environmental impact KW - flight height KW - human-wildlife conflict KW - mitigation KW - raptors KW - renewable energy KW - wind energy Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12788 SN - 0019-1019 SN - 1474-919X VL - 162 IS - 2 SP - 520 EP - 534 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Huđek, Helena A1 - Žganec, Krešimir A1 - Pusch, Martin T. T1 - A review of hydropower dams in Southeast Europe BT - distribution, trends and availability of monitoring data using the example of a multinational Danube catchment subarea T2 - Renewable & sustainable energy reviews N2 - Currently, Southeast Europe (SEE) is witnessing a boom in hydropower plant (HPP) construction, which has not even spared protected areas. As SEE includes global hotspots of aquatic biodiversity, it is expected that this boom will result in a more severe impact on biodiversity than that of other regions. A more detailed assessment of the environmental risks resulting from HPP construction would have to rely on the existence of nearby hydrological and biological monitoring stations. For this reason, we review the distribution and trends of HPPs in the area, as well as the availability of hydrological and biological monitoring data from national institutions useable for environmental impact assessment. Our analysis samples tributary rivers of the Danube in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro, referred to hereafter as TRD rivers. Currently, 636 HPPs are operating along the course of TRD rivers, most of which are small (<1 MW). An additional 1315 HPPs are currently planned to be built, mostly in Serbia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As official monitoring stations near HPPs are rare, the impact of those HPPs on river flow, fish and macro-invertebrates is difficult to assess. This manuscript represents the first regional review of hydropower use and of available data sources on its environmental impact for an area outside of the Alps. We conclude that current hydrological and biological monitoring in TRD rivers is insufficient for an assessment of the ecological impacts of HPPs. This data gap also prevents an adequate assessment of the ecological impacts of planned HP projects, as well as the identification of appropriate measures to mitigate the environmental effects of existing HPPs. KW - renewable energy KW - environmental monitoring KW - water framework directive KW - environmental impact assessment KW - macroinvertebrates KW - fish KW - hydrology Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.109434 SN - 1364-0321 SN - 1879-0690 VL - 117 PB - Elsevier Science CY - Amsterdam [u.a.] ER -