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The necessary transformation of energy systems towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions provides a plethora of new research challenges. New interconnections between different energy sectors, such as power, heat and mobility, increase the system's complexity. In this context, the digitalisation towards cyber-physical energy systems (CPES) alleviates change, and equally affects technical, social, and societal topics, as well as the mode of research in the CPES research community. Research efforts towards CPES heavily rely on modelling and (co-)simulation-based approaches. Tracking of models together with all data creates a complex software and data management challenge, which needs to be addressed in each research project. To this end, nfdi4energy covers the whole research and transfer cycle of projects in energy system research ranging from (1) identifying relevant competences for a project; (2) defining relevant scenarios and experimental setup; (3) integrating models and data; coupling tools and laboratories; (4) extracting results, facilitating public consultation; to (5) identifying research challenges for follow-up activities. We define the following key objectives: (1) Establish common research community services for FAIR data, models, and processes in energy system research and motivate its use in the community. (2) Allow traceability, reproducibility, and transparency of results for the scientific community as well as for the society, improving the overall FAIRness. (3) Enable and motivate the involvement of society for the identification and solution of relevant research questions. (4) Promote better collaboration and knowledge transfer between scientific research institutes and business partners via FAIR research data management. (5)Simplify identification, integration, and coordination of simulation-based models. (6) Integrate the provided services for energy system research within the wider NFDI ecosystem to improve cross-domain collaboration. To fulfil these objectives, nfdi4energy concentrates on five key services to provide a non-discriminatory access to digital research objects: (1) Competence to help to navigate the interdisciplinary research field, (2) Best Practices to get information about successful conduct of research including research data management, (3) Registry to find suitable data and software, (4) Simulation to couple existing simulations and, therefore, reuse software artefacts, and (5) Transparency to involve more stakeholders in all research stages. With these services, nfdi4energy aims to develop and provide an open and FAIR research ecosystem in the energy system domain containing a large share of common workflows from data gathering to the inclusion into research software, together with data publications for researchers spanning from single component development (like battery storage systems or other new smart grid equipment) up to system-of-systems research (based on mathematical or analytical models).

This chapter gives an overview of various forms of civic engagement in the context of the German energy transition. The first section introduces invented and invited spaces of civic participation with a focus on bottom-up citizens’ activities, their dynamics, and social structure. To this end, community energy initiatives such as energy cooperatives as well as protests against wind turbines and grid expansion are analyzed regarding fields of conflict, forms of representation, and collaboration and matters of (energy) justice. The normative roles attributed to citizens’ activities and polarization tendencies are critically discussed. In conclusion, two elementary forms of civic engagement relating to the Energiewende can be derived. This chapter gives an overview of various forms of civic engagement in the context of the German energy transition. The first section introduces invented and invited spaces of civic participation with a focus on bottom-up citizens’ activities, their dynamics, and social structure. To this end, community energy initiatives such as energy cooperatives as well as protests against wind turbines and grid expansion are analyzed regarding fields of conflict, forms of representation, and collaboration and matters of (energy) justice. The normative roles attributed to citizens’ activities and polarization tendencies are critically discussed. In conclusion, two elementary forms of civic engagement relating to the Energiewende can be derived.

This open access book presents detailed pathways to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050, globally and across ten geographical regions. Based on state-of-the-art scenario modelling, it provides the vital missing link between renewable energy targets and the measures needed to achieve them. Bringing together the latest research in climate science, renewable energy technology, employment and resource impacts, the book breaks new ground by covering all the elements essential to achieving the ambitious climate mitigation targets set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. For example, sectoral implementation pathways, with special emphasis on differences between developed and developing countries and regional conditions, provide tools to implement the scenarios globally and domestically. Non-energy greenhouse gas mitigation scenarios define a sustainable pathway for land-use change and the agricultural sector. Furthermore, results of the impact of the scenarios on employment and mineral and resource requirements provide vital insight on economic and resource management implications. The book clearly demonstrates that the goals of the Paris Agreement are achievable and feasible with current technology and are beneficial in economic and employment terms. It is essential reading for anyone with responsibility for implementing renewable energy or climate targets internationally or domestically, including climate policy negotiators, policy-makers at all levels of government, businesses with renewable energy commitments, researchers and the renewable energy industry.

Throughout the world, community initiatives are becoming a common form of engagement in renewable energy while being recognised for their ability to deliver social, environmental and economic benefits. In particular, community renewable energy – understood as renewable energy deployment in which communities initiate, develop and own an asset – has emerged as a sub-field of the energy sector. The main research questions are: why and how do community renewable energy fields emerge and what institutional drivers and challenges contribute and constrain their development? Applying the framework of strategic action fields, which is based on elements of institutional, organisational and social movement theory, the thesis explores the development of community renewable energy fields based on case studies of Denmark, Germany and Australia. It investigates relationships between related actors considering both bottom-up (mobilisation) and top-down (decisive role of state and its institutions) dynamics and compares the developments of the three countries to identify development principles and to offer policy recommendations. In addition, special focus is placed on the role of local government as an institution that supports and could foster the establishment of community renewable energy initiatives. The research design uses a combination of secondary and primary data in form of literature sources, statistics and empirical data collected via qualitative and quantitative methods (incl. surveys and semi-structured interviews). The thesis results indicate that some form of exogenous shock is valuable for initiating societal change that erodes the material and ideological-political advantage of the incumbent energy industry. An episode of contention is followed by mobilisation and collective action in the community renewable energy field’s emergence. The ability of social skilled actors to frame issues, create shared identities, establish coalitions and institutionalise support structures is a crucial element in the process of rise and settlement of community renewable energy fields. An important actor is the state. The Australian community renewable energy field is still in a fledgling stage and shows similarities with the early mobilisation of the grassroots initiatives in Germany and Denmark. However the initiatives are heavily dependent on support organisations and governments to become established and legitimised.

Energiegenossenschaften, in denen sich Bürger(innen) ehrenamtlich engagieren, sind zu einem Symbol für eine bürgernahe Energiewende geworden.Neue Energiegenossenschaften werden jedoch kaum noch gegründet, weil sie nach der Novelle des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes gegenüber großen Anbietern benachteiligt sind. Gefragt sind nun neue Geschäftsmodelle, die helfen, dieses Modell neben Stadtwerken und privatwirtschaftlichen Versorgern auf dem Energiemarkt zu etablieren. So müssen die Genossenschaftsmitglieder etwa Know-how aufbauen, hauptamtliche Stellen schaffen und Risikokapital mobilisieren.

Transformation of energy systems is influencing economic policy agendas all over the world, particularly so in industrialized countries. In this process, Germany has taken a pioneering role. Technical innovations, institutional frameworks, and business models established there are of interest for other countries trying to achieve broader use of renewable energies. Energy cooperatives have been an important building block of the energy transition in Germany, though their practical importance is neither quantitatively nor qualitatively reflected in the academic literature. Drawing on recently collected data, this paper presents an overview of German energy cooperatives in terms of their (1) organization, (2) membership, and (3) financing. We then review theories from economics and the social sciences that, on various levels, have been used to analyze cooperatives in other fields or other forms of community-driven organization. We discuss how these theories could be applied for a better understanding of energy cooperatives, derive a preliminary research agenda and assess the scope for interdisciplinary work among economists, sociologists, and other related disciplines.