Search

In view of the climate crisis, the development and the path of growth and expansion of renewable energy systems is an urgent task, but must carried out with great care on environmental compatibility and protection. Renewable energy supply systems that are suitable for grid-bound heat supply, particularly in urban areas in Europe, are geothermal binary plants that provide power as well as power and heat. This paper will present studies whose objective was the assessment of hydrogeothermal power and heat generation in low-enthalpy regions from the environmental standpoint. The German Environment Agency published results of a network of studies conducted between 2008 and 2016 on the analysis of detailed and comprehensive environmental impacts of the geothermal energy generation in Germany and has continuously evaluated these findings. In this article, the results of the Life Cycle Assessment are discussed, taking into account all effects and material flows within the entire life cycle. Based on these balances, differing geothermal systems are compared to each other and to other renewable and fossil energy generation systems in order to assess the ecological advantages and disadvantages of these systems. Taking into account local environmental impacts as well a comprehensive ecologic evaluation of potential environmental and human health impacts becomes possible. The paper presents the results of a) the mass and energy fluxes of the process chain along the life cycle, and b) the local environmental impacts along the life cycle with regard to the environmental indicators of these cases. The focus is on the impact of site and plant parameters. Concluding, it can be summarised that geothermal power and heat generation is a very low-carbon technology and can contribute to a sustainable energy supply. Hydrogeothermal plants show a significantly low surface consumption, and environmental impacts are only locally relevant and technically controllable. Through the development of optimised overall concepts, geothermal based power and heat generation can achieve minimal environmental impacts in all areas. The combined heat and power generation from geothermal resources is by far the most environmentally and climate-friendly energy supply compared to all other regenerative and fossil systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses EU nature conservation and EU climate protection policies within the context of their local implementation in Vienna/Austria in order to gain insights into the decision-making process as well as to show the extent of achievements and experienced difficulties. In this connection, this paper also investigates based on published knowledge and the perceptions of stakeholders the awareness of nature conservation measures as climate-change adaptation and possibly ways of improvement. In order to address these issues, additionally to an in-depth literature review, 16 experts working in Vienna in the field of either nature conservation or climate protection were interviewed. The transcriptions of these interviews were then used in a qualitative content analysis. The findings show that the vast majority of the interviewed stakeholders see EU climate policy and nature conservation policy separately. Furthermore, the implementation of EU climate and nature conservation policy in Vienna is indicated as a “learning by doing” process. There the currently limited cooperation between stakeholders can be improved. Our study also finds that the awareness of different stakeholder groups of the possibility to use nature conservation as a measure against climate change is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines individual preferences for a reduction of life-cycle CO 2 emissions in vehicle purchase decisions. The empirical analysis is based on data from a stated choice experiment among citizens in Germany that refers to decisions between three types of electric vehicles and one conventional vehicle that are characterized by several attributes. With respect to CO 2 emissions, we specifically examine emissions in vehicle production besides the commonly considered emissions in vehicle use. Our econometric analysis reveals a strong stated preference for the reduction of both components of life-cycle CO 2 emissions. Furthermore, we find that conventional vehicles are significantly preferred over electric vehicles. Surprisingly, environmental attitudes, i.e. environmental awareness and ecological policy identification, have no significant effects on the reduction of CO 2 emissions. Instead, citizens with a strong environmental identity rather tend to avoid the purchase of conventional vehicles. We discuss several practical policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The notion of integrated land-use and transport planning is linked to hopes that it may be possible to reverse the traffic-inducing effects of interactions between the built environment and transport, and to use planning interventions in land-use and transport provision to effectively contribute to the reduction of transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. However, the targeted design of mixed-use and compact structures on the local and regional level is superimposed by societal and spatial trends that make large-scale mobility politically desirable or necessary. Against this background, the aforementioned hopes appear clearly exaggerated. Written from a German, at times also a wider European perspective, this paper develops the following argument. Land-use and transport are indeed interrelated, but the historical transport growth we face is mainly driven by other societal factors, such as economic growth, the spatial division of labour, large-scale societal integration, and gender equity. In addition, the effects of land-use on transport are uncertain due to limited knowledge on cause-impact relationships. Even in cases where cause and impact can be established, the impact of planning is limited. We conclude that the scope of integrated land-use and transport planning on the local level should not be overestimated so as to avoid false hopes and corresponding failures. This type of planning can hardly be justified by arguments related to the prevention of carbon dioxide emissions, but is useful in pursuing other urban development goals, such as ensuring accessibility without the use of cars, providing a healthy and livable environment, and – to a lesser extent – shifting travel to other modes and, indeed, reducing it overall. Local and regional land-use and transport planning should be justified by realistic and achievable goals, while at the same time highlighting that it has little effect on the general increase in distances travelled and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Conversely, we conclude that the necessary reduction of emissions within the transport sector must be tackled by interventions on the national and supranational levels, rather than expecting or demanding success from largely ineffective, more local interventions and the actors involved with them. Highlights • Integrated land-use/transport planning is often said to reduce transport CO2 emissions. • We argue that transport growth is driven by other factors than local land-use. • We conclude that the impact of integrated local-level planning is limited. • Integrated local planning is useful in pursuing other urban development goals. • Transport emissions reductions need interventions on the (supra)national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper discusses opportunities for integration of the climate protection strategy declared by the German government into spatial and urban land-use plans in Germany. The paper gives a brief overview of German climate protection related legislation, gives some statistics on energy demand in the housing sector in Germany, and identifies opportunities for climate change mitigation in urban areas through enhanced spatial planning and energy-efficient homes. Drawing on statistical analysis the paper identifies discrepancies between trends in population densities and actual housing floor space. The paper further identifies opportunities for increasing heating efficiency of houses by managing the spatial arrangement of apartments and buildings. The overall conclusion of the paper is that adjustments in the spatial planning legal base in Germany are necessary to integrate specific climate protection tools that will allow an increase in energy efficiency in housing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Based on different current long-term energy scenarios the paper discusses the future perspectives of hydrogen in the German energy system as a representative example for the development of sustainable energy systems. The scenario analysis offers varying outlines of the future energy system that determine the possible role of hydrogen. The paper discusses the possibilities of expanding the share of renewable energy and the resulting prospects for establishing clean hydrogen production from renewable energy sources. Emphasis is given to the questions of an ecologically efficient allocation of limited renewable energy resources that can only be assessed from a systems analysis perspective. Findings from recent studies for Germany reveal a strong competition between the direct input into the electricity system and an indirect use as fuel in the transport sector. Moreover, the analysis underlines the paramount importance of reducing energy demand as the inevitable prerequisite for any renewable energy system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

High levels of observed city involvement in energy and climate initiatives indicate that free-riding has been much less of a barrier to local climate protection efforts than suggested by theories of collective action. This study investigates why local governments have adopted various energy and climate change policy instruments despite the non-excludability of climate benefits. This paper advances theories of institutional collective action (ICA) and policy diffusion by testing ICA based hypotheses that local officials are able to overcome collective action problems to the extent that the costs of these initiatives are minimized through policy network interactions, the extent to which climate action produces localized benefits or compliments local environmental, development or growth management efforts, and the extent to which energy and climate protection efforts generate selective benefits to elected and appointed local government officials who advance their career interests depending on the existing configurations of political system institutions. Analysis of adoptions of the Climate Protection Agreements by Florida Cities indicates larger cities are more likely to adopt climate agreement, while district elections decrease the likelihood of climate policy adoption. Moreover, economic development rather than growth management or environmental problem situation is linked to climate initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of climate protection policy, it has been suggested that global CO2 emissions should be reduced significantly (contraction) and that per capita emissions should gradually be equalized across countries (convergence). This paper uses an intertemporal multi-region computable general equilibrium model of the world economy to assess the economics of “Contraction and Convergence” (C&C). Upon comparing a regime of tradable and non-tradable emission rights for implementing C&C, we find that international emissions trading increases crucially the political feasibility of the C&C proposal. The reason is that the distribution of the total efficiency gains from permit trading not only improves the economic well-being of all regions as compared to strictly domestic action, but in particular raises economic welfare of major opponents to carbon restrictions from the developing world even beyond non-abatement baseline levels. A decomposition of the general equilibrium effects associated with C&C shows that changes in the terms of trade constitute a key determinant of the overall welfare effects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The effective management of climate change on a national as well as an international level requires close co-operation between the scientific community and the political sector. Climate change first became a major subject of scientific inquiry in the early 1980s, and real political interest in the issue was awakened towards the end of that decade. In the last few years, the dialogue between the scientific community and the political sector has increased considerably. As a result, climate change is today one of the most significant areas in environmental research and international environmental policy alike. This paper examines the emergence and consolidation of international climate change regime. The theory of regime building is used as discussed by Young (1989). International Cooperation. Cornell University Press,Ithaca. The paper begins with an outline of the historical emergenceof climate research and climate policy. This is followed by a discussion of the history and development of the Rio Convention, with a look at the latest developments in international climate politics. The next section begins with an examination of the foundations and presentstrategies of Finnish climate policy, which is used as a case study,and the paper concludes with an assessment of the current state of Finnish climate policy, illustrating the problems of compliance individual countries face when adopting the norms and principles of the regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]