Energy | Ecologic Institute: Science and Policy for a Sustainable World

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Publication

Planning for Net-zero: Assessing the Draft National Energy and Climate Plans

A report by Ecologic Institute and Climact shows that the draft National Energy and Climate Plans presented by governments at the start of 2019 are in acute need of improvement. They suffer from inadequate targets and insufficient details on the policies and financing needed to move towards net-zero emission economies in Europe. Member States also need to do better in involving their national stakeholders in providing input to the plans, to benefit from their expertise and to get them on board for future policies. The report is available for download.Read more

Presentation

Legal Aspects of Big Data in the Energy Sector – Summer School Lecture

TimeLoc

15 May 2019

Potsdam

Germany

Christine Lucha

Lisa Meinecke

Ecologic Institute was asked by IASS to give a lecture on "Legal aspects of big data in the energy sector" at the ENavi Summer School 2019 on Digitalisation in the Energy Transition. Its participants consisted of persons with a strong interest in sustainability and energy topics at the beginning of their professional careers. The lecture presented the legal issues arising from the use of Big Data technologies in the context of energy supply.Read more

Event

Webinar

Energy

Public Diplomacy

Transatlantic Program

The Future of Coal – The Economics and Politics of the German Coal Phase Out

TimeLoc

14 May 2019

online

Speaker

Benjamin Görlach

Matthias Duwe

In January 2019, a stakeholder commission established by the German government agreed upon a schedule to decommission coal-fired power plants by 2038 at the latest and a framework for financial assistance to regions affected by the transition. Environmental groups have argued for years that Germany will not get back on track to its climate targets if it does not tackle the coal question. However, as a historic ingredient of Germany's industrial might, coal as source of energy was considered taboo for policy-makers until recently. How did this major paradigm shift come about – and what made an agreement among different stakeholders possible?Read more

Publication

Infographic

Climate

Energy

EU Climate Policy & EU Reform: Pretty much best friends – Infographic

In response to Brexit, the EU has embarked on a process of reflection and possibly reform. As a contribution to this process, the Ecologic Institute explores the interlinkages between the process on the Future of the EU and EU climate and energy policies. This infographic presents how the EU climate policy can help with the EU reform and how the EU reform might improves the EU climate policy.Read more

Publication

Carbon Pricing to Contribute to Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Efforts of Bangladesh: Design features and rationale

Bangladesh needs to turn its pledges into effective policy instrument to realize the promises about greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation made in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). In that regard, analyzing the energy and climate policies of Bangladesh and consulting with the stakeholders from Bangladesh and other countries, Shafiqul Alam provides insights on the possible policy instrument for Bangladesh to achieve the target of NDC and raises some fundamental policy issues. His study is available for download.Read more

Publication

How Can We Make the Energiewende Digital and Sustainable?

The Energiewende means a transition from the old, nuclear-and-coal based, to a sustainable and digitalized energy system. This is a complex endeavor: the number of actors involved increases and their functions overlap. While digital technologies bring automation and potential for relief, they are an ambivalent phenomenon: with no comprehensive laws on data protection, it is unclear what is going to happen to the tremendous amount of data collected by digital appliances. Besides, technologies like blockchain are often so energy-intensive that they eat up the amount of resources that they are trying to save. Therefore, political design must actively shape a digital and ecologically sustainable energy transition – it will not happen by itself.Read more

Publication

Article

Climate

Energy

The Future of Energy Security

Energy security – the uninterrupted supply of energy at reasonable prices, as defined by IEA – has both external and internal dynamics. It can be ensured through local adequacy, that is, abundant and varied forms of indigenous energy resources, but the countries that face local shortages, as in Bangladesh, depend on imports. Shafiqul Alam explains in his online article in the Dhaka Tribune how internal measures could attenuate reliance on external sources.Read more

Publication

Document

Climate

Energy

The Future of the EU – the Role of Climate and Energy Policies – Recommendations

Conclusions

In response to Brexit, the EU embarked on a process of reflection and possibly reform, the so-called Bratislava Process or the Process on the Future of Europe. At its meeting on 9 May 2019, the European Council was expected to draw first conclusions. As a contribution to this process, the Ecologic Institute, the Istituto Affari Internazionali, the Institute of European Environment Policies and the Climate Strategy Institute 2050 offered a number of recommendations to EU policy makers on how EU climate policies can support this process, and on how climate policies can benefit from it. The recommendations are available for download.Read more

Presentation

Dr. Camilla Bausch Presents ecoworks with the PERPETUUM Energy Efficiency Prize 2019

TimeLoc

9 April 2019

Berlin

Germany

Dr. Camilla Bausch

Is it possible to modernize apartment buildings to net zero within just a few days? The innovators at ecoworks claim just this and were awarded with the jury’s prize at this year’s DENEFF annual conference. Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute headed the jury for the third consecutive year to choose the winner of the competition. The innovation by ecoworks was only one of many exciting projects in the running for the 2019 PERPETUUM Energy Efficiency Prize.Read more

Publication

Phasing out Coal in the German Energy Sector

Interdependencies, Challenges and Potential Solutions

In January 2019, Germany made a big step towards a coal phase-out: A stakeholder commission established by the federal government agreed on a schedule for plant retirement and on measures to support coal regions. For experts and journalists seeking to understand the context of the phase-out decision, scientists from the German Institute for Economic Research, Ecologic Institute, and the Wuppertal Institute have developed a comprehensive reader detailing what is at stake. The publication explains why the phase-out is needed and how it can become a success.Read more