scholarly journals Presentation of the 5Ds in Energy Policy: A Policy Paper to Show How Germany Can Regain Its Role as a Pioneer in Energy Policy

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (20) ◽  
pp. 6799
Author(s):  
Oliver Wagner ◽  
Thomas Götz

The widely recognised Energiewende, (“energy transition”) in Germany has lost its original momentum. We therefore address the question of how the transition process to a new energy system can be reignited. To do so, we developed the “5Ds approach”, which lays the groundwork for a process analysis and the identification of important catalysts and barriers. Focusing on the five major fields required for the energy transition, we analyse the effects of: (1) Decarbonisation: How can efficiency and renewable energies be expanded successfully? (2) Digitalisation: Which digital solutions facilitate this conversion and would be suitable as sustainable business models? (3) Decentralisation: How can potential decentralised energy and efficiency opportunities be developed? (4) Democratisation: How can participation be strengthened in order to foster acceptance (and prevent “yellow vest” protests, etc.)? (5) Diversification of service: Which services can make significant contributions in the context of flexible power generation, demand-side management, storage and grids? Our paper comes to the conclusion that German policy efforts in the “5D” fields have been implemented very differently. Particularly with regard to democratisation, the opportunities for genuine participation among the different social actors must be further strengthened to get the Energiewende back on track. New market models are needed to meet the challenges of the energy transition and to increase the performance of “5D” through economic incentives.

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-157
Author(s):  
Bruno Jasic

The goal of this article is to outline and to analyse the key challenges to be faced by the Polish energy market, as it is only at the beginning of the energy transition process. The dynamics of energy policy adaptation process to the challenges of the energy security dimensions, in the face of the energy and climate policy set by the European Union and the expected transformation goals, may cause the growth of the energy security deficit both on a national and regional scale. Given the centralized model of energy infrastructure management, reliance of domestic generation capacity on conventional sources and insufficient development of cross-border networks, Poland is particularly exposed to a security deficit related to the transformation of its energy system, which may also negatively affect other countries in the East- Central Europe region. Using program documents and sector analyses, the article analyses possible strategies for ensuring energy security, setting the issues in the context of the specificity of the Polish energy sector and opportunities for development of regional cooperation between Central and Eastern European countries. As a result, the article reveals an assessment which shows an insufficient recognition by Poland both the external and internal factors determining the pace and direction of energy modernization, as well as a failure to adapt energy policy objectives to the specifics of low-carbon energy sources and the potential provided for by regional energy markets.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Wagner ◽  
Thomas Adisorn ◽  
Lena Tholen ◽  
Dagmar Kiyar

In the light of Germany’s chosen path towards the energy transition, the regulatory framework has changed considerably. New players have succeeded in entering the market, and renewable energies have become increasingly competitive. Greater electrification of the transport and heating sectors will be needed in the future to achieve national climate targets. Against this background, Germany’s big energy companies need to be sure that their sales will increase. However, they were unable to anticipate this development, and made strategic mistakes in the past. The development of sustainable business models in line with the energy transition failed to materialize. Now it is becoming increasingly clear that companies must create new business models to survive in the long term. These business models have to keep with the tradition, whilst meeting the needs of low-carbon power supplies. In this paper, we will examine the past and future challenges of the four energy companies and develop a proposal for evaluating sustainable business models. For this purpose, we use the multi-level perspective to categorize developments in the electricity market over the last 50 years, and then apply a multi-criteria analysis to derive five suitable business models from the results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 548
Author(s):  
Gavin Thompson

How will the global energy system move sharply towards a pathway compatible with the goals of the Paris Agreement by 2030? Despite great efforts on cost reductions in renewables, alternative technologies, advanced transportation and supportive government policies, progress to date is not enough. The challenge is now one of scalability. Although some technologies required for a 2°C future are economic and proven, many others are not. Optimists look at the cost of solar and wind and say we have all we need to achieve our targets. The reality is that significant additional investment is needed to get them to material scale, globally. And too often huge challenges are downplayed in sectors beyond power and transport, including industry, aviation, shipping, heating and agriculture. Given the criticality of climate change, these multiple challenges must now be addressed. Consequently, any accelerated pace of decarbonisation represents an existential challenge to the oil and gas industry, including in Australia. If companies are to remain investible through the long term, all will need to transition to business models that are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. This paper considers what the path to decarbonisation could look like and how oil and gas companies must respond in order to prosper through the energy transition.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Sofia Lewis Lopes ◽  
Elizabeth Duarte ◽  
Rita Fragoso

The exponential population growth will put great pressure on natural resources, agriculture, energy systems and waste production. New business models and innovative technological approaches are necessary to tackle these challenges and achieve the energy transition targets set by the European Commission. Renewable energy technologies and processes such as solar photovoltaic, solar thermal and anaerobic co-digestion have become a subject of interest and research as a solution that could be fully implemented in industries and solve several environmental and economic problems. This paper discusses the possibility of integrating and complement these technologies to maximize renewable energy production and circularity. The review was performed with a funnel approach aiming to analyze broad to specific subjects. Beginning with a literature review on the various definitions of circular economy, bioeconomy, and circular bioeconomy, ultimately proposing a single definition according to an industrial and academic scope combination, followed by a systematization and assessment of data and literature regarding energy systems present state and projections. The next phase was to assess data and literature of the fruit and vegetable processing industry from an energy consumption and biowaste production perspective to consequently discussing technologies that could help manage problems identified throughout this review. This paper culminates in propounding an Integrated Renewable Energy System conceptual model that promotes energy and waste circularity, envisioning how industries could be designed or redesigned in the future, coupled with a circular bioeconomy business model.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard McGovern

Abstract BackgroundThis paper deploys a regional actor perspective to detect policy enablers of and barriers to the uptake of civic energy. In common with other forms of regional, decentralized energy, the civic energy concept not only challenges historical energy business models but changes the energy agenda to prioritize community development and climate issues. Energy policy needs to react by shifting from purely market regulations to the promotion of shared community energy solutions. Both current energy structures and established policy priorities are unsuited to deliver on widely recognized energy transition and sustainable development goals. Switching from a centralized to a decentralized energy mode is viewed as a major re-structuring of a socio-technical regime. In a series of expert interviews, two disruptive policy approaches, creative destruction and experimentation, are analyzed as to whether they can contribute to overcoming path dependency and carbon lock-in.ResultsThe interviews conducted with local and regional energy facilitators in seven North European countries identified a range of active, predominantly municipal and regional policy enablers of civic energy. Motivation for specific civic energy initiatives was derived from the translation of global climate goals such as the Paris Agreement into more focused and therefore tangible local targets, which acted as direct policy enablers. At the same time critical inconsistencies and a lack of coherence were identified in several national and European energy policy mixes. Over and above dismantling existing administrative and legislative restrictions on civic energy uptake, experimentation is needed to develop new community partnerships that can host civic energy initiatives and mobilize untapped local energy resources.ConclusionsMastering the uncertainties of re-framing energy systems requires systematic experimentation and an extended mandate for local and regional authorities. Whereas the fossil versus renewable energy policy debate seems to have been won, the shift from centralized to decentralized systems threatens existing power structures and remains highly contentious.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 73-79
Author(s):  
Jasmina Mandić Lukić ◽  
◽  
Đorđina Milovanović ◽  
Maja Stipić ◽  
Sanja Petrović Bećirović ◽  
...  

Faced with forthcoming international obligations related to climate change mitigation measures, primarily planned to be reflected through the Law and Action Plan on Low Carbon Development Strategy, as well as the Law on Climate Change, all of which are currently being defined and adopted, Serbia is increasingly facing a need to switch its coal-fired facilities to alternative, environmentally more acceptable options. The related measures will have to be implemented much sooner than initially planned. Knowing that 80% of national GHG emissions originate from the energy sector, as well as that the dominant portion of those emissions results from the use of locally available coal, it is clear that the most efficient climate change mitigation measure would be a switch to alternative fuel options. However, having in mind that such an energy transition process is coupled with significant technological, environmental, economic, social, and other difficulties, the EU has initiated several projects, and one of them is TRACER, launched under the Horizon 2020 program, that strives to shed light on the best research and innovation strategies facilitating easier transition to the sustainable, low carbon energy system. The project addresses actions across nine coal-intensive European regions, including Kolubara Region in Serbia. The paper presents technological, environmental, and social challenges in the transition process, with an emphasis on the Kolubara region, and a proposal for the energy transition in Serbia respecting R&I strategies and Smart Specialization.


2020 ◽  
pp. 108602662093263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederik Plewnia ◽  
Edeltraud Guenther

Peer-to-peer energy (p2p) communities connect electricity consumers and producers on platforms allowing them to trade energy with each other. By synchronizing local production and consumption, connecting decentral actors, and creating new markets, they can promote a more sustainable energy system. A multicase study and expert interviews were conducted to investigate how the business models of these organizations operate and what value they may provide to stakeholders and the energy system. It was found that, due to current legislation, organizations in Germany mostly facilitate virtual, supraregional p2p energy communities. While these do not offer all the benefits of local p2p energy communities, they do facilitate a range of advantages to stakeholders and the overall energy system. Finally, it is concluded how sustainable business models can offer “system transition value,” driving the dissemination of new technologies, the redesign of markets, and the education of customers to foster a more sustainable energy system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geertje Bekebrede ◽  
Ellen van Bueren ◽  
Ivo Wenzler

The depletion of fossil fuel sources for our energy system and the influence on overall CO2 emissions drive the need to more sustainable energy systems. The transition towards a renewable energy system cannot be seen as a purely technical issue; it is strongly embedded within society. In this study, we analyze the stakeholder complexities of the transition in urban districts and research the use of a simulation game to increase the understanding of the complexity of the transition. Surveys and observations were used to collect data about the learning experiences of playing the game GO2Zero. The results show that participants liked to play the game and they considered the game a valid representation of the system. Further, the participants agree that they obtained a better understanding of the complexity of the residential energy system and experienced a variety of challenges in the transition. Simulation games, like GO2Zero, could become valuable instruments in local energy transition processes as they offer a safe environment for novices and experts to jointly experiment with the challenges in this process. These experiences could support the design of the transition process by helping actors to formulate goals and collaborative strategies for achieving those goals. Future research will focus on the use of this game for experimenting with different strategies and instruments and to analyze their effects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2819
Author(s):  
Han Phoumin ◽  
Fukunari Kimura ◽  
Jun Arima

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) faces tremendous challenges regarding the future energy landscape and how the energy transition will embrace a new architecture—including sound policies and technologies to ensure energy access together with affordability, energy security, and energy sustainability. Given the high share of fossil fuels in ASEAN’s current energy mix (oil, coal, and natural gas comprise almost 80%), the clean use of fossil fuels through the deployment of clean technologies is indispensable for decarbonizing ASEAN’s emissions. The future energy landscape of ASEAN will rely on today’s actions, policies, and investments to change the fossil fuel-based energy system towards a cleaner energy system, but any decisions and energy policy measures to be rolled out during the energy transition need to be weighed against potentially higher energy costs, affordability issues, and energy security risks. This paper employs energy modelling scenarios to seek plausible policy options for ASEAN to achieve more emissions reductions as well as energy savings, and to assess the extent to which the composition of the energy mix will be changed under various energy policy scenarios. The results imply policy recommendations for accelerating the share of renewables, adopting clean technologies and the clean use of fossil fuels, and investing in climate-resilient energy quality infrastructure.


Author(s):  
Romain Mauger

In an energy transitions era, the citizens tend to be increasingly considered as actors of the energy system. This situation reinforces in turn the importance of public participation processes into energy policy or legislation design. In 2012-2013, a significant public participation process in the field of energy policy was organised in France, named National Debate on the Energy Transition. From the beginning, it was proclaimed that its results would be integrated into a flagship energy transition act, which did happen with the adoption of the Energy Transition for Green Growth Act of 2015. This paper provides an overview of the organisation of this public debate and of the integration of its outcome into the Energy Transition Act. The experience of France can serve for other countries engaged in a process of transition towards a more sustainable society and especially towards a massive change of their energy mix. It addresses the successes as well as the failures of the French case and provides some key learning points to enhance the public participation into the Law-making process concerning the energy transition.    


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