Papers by Barbara Breitschopf
Energy & Environment, Feb 1, 2016
This paper describes a concept for the detailed assessment of the costs and benefits of renewable... more This paper describes a concept for the detailed assessment of the costs and benefits of renewable energy technologies deployment. A first quantitative impact assessment of German renewable energy technologies use is conducted from a historical perspective based on this comprehensive method. It includes costs and benefits at three different levels-energy system, micro-and macroeconomic. The findings suggest that, at the system level, the generation costs in the electricity and heat sector are partly compensated by positive effects mainly from avoided emissions due to the use of renewable energy technologies in the electricity and heat sector. On the electricity market, small power consumers bear a very large share of the policy costs, while others might even profit from renewable energy technologies use. However, a comprehensive assessment that accounts for all the different negative and positive effects in the long term, including distributional effects, is more challenging. The concept applied here allows a differentiated comparison of a wide range of effects including aggregated costs and benefits as well as how these are distributed across different economic actors.
In the framework of the research project (Gretchen) financed by the German Federal Ministry of Ed... more In the framework of the research project (Gretchen) financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the impact of German policies on industry structure and technological change is investigated. As the quantitative impact analysis of German policies on technologies and structures is complex and requires a comprehensive approach, this paper focuses on a selected part of the analysis: It explores and discusses the possibilities of how to quantify and operationalize German policies addressing photovoltaic electricity generation. This is done for the case of PV. The impact analysis of the policies will be discussed in a separate paper.
The Horizon2020 project AURES II aims at ensuring the effective implementation of auctions for re... more The Horizon2020 project AURES II aims at ensuring the effective implementation of auctions for renewable energies in the EU Member States (MS). In recent years, auction schemes for the allocation of support for renewable electricity sources (RES) have been advancing rapidly across Europe. Auctions are considered to have brought down support levels and increased planning capability for RES deployment and state budgets. In some unfortunate cases, they have, however, also resulted in delayed or unrealised projects and increased uncertainty for project developers. A variety of auction designs are still being tested and introduced in EU MS, as well as foreseen by European legislation. Therefore, there is still a need for further assessment and improvement of national auction design and implementation to ensure the future success of RES auctions in Europe. Applying different qualitative and quantitative methods in the various work packages (WPs), the AURES II project partners have already...
programme. Its main objective is to ensure a continuous assessment of the existing policy mechani... more programme. Its main objective is to ensure a continuous assessment of the existing policy mechanisms and to establish a fruitful stakeholder dialogue on future policy needs for renewable electricity (RES-E), heating & cooling (RES-H) and transport (REST). Thus, DIA-CORE seeks to facilitate convergence in RES support across the EU and to enhance investments, cooperation and coordination. DIA-CORE POLICY BRIEF
Green hydrogen and its synthesis products are regarded as important elements of the energy and cl... more Green hydrogen and its synthesis products are regarded as important elements of the energy and climate transition in both Germany's and the European hydrogen strategy. Importing these products is considered an important strategy component. Alongside many aspects that can be classified as relatively certain according to the current state of knowledge, there are still a number of open questions that are addressed in this policy brief and that lead to the following conclusions: 01 Climate neutrality Green hydrogen and synthesis products are required in the future for greenhouse gas neutrality, especially in certain industrial sectors such as basic chemicals, iron and steel and refineries, as well as international air and sea transport. However, the demand for other applications is still the subject of controversial discussions. More info on page 13 02 Market The import market will probably be between 100 billion and 700 billion euros per year in the long term based on current knowledge. This range is determined by the application areas, into which hydrogen and its derived energy sources can penetrate. This will give rise to new import dependencies and risks. More info on page 14 03 Potentials for renewables It is very likely that the renewable energy potentials in Germany and the EU will not be sufficient to meet this demand cost-efficiently in terms of availability, economic efficiency and acceptance. Importing green hydrogen and synthesis products is therefore considered necessary.
Since the adoption of its Renewable Energy (RE) act in 2000, Germany has intensified its effort f... more Since the adoption of its Renewable Energy (RE) act in 2000, Germany has intensified its effort for renewable energy technology (RET) deployment. The primary instrument has been feed-in tariffs, which have faced several adjustments in magnitude and specific designs. While costs for consumers have increased considerably from 4.7 bill Euro in 2008 to almost 19 billion Euro in 2014 (Monitoring Report 2015), benefits for consumers are more difficult to capture and quantify. To do so, the approach relies on a const benefit concept, which looks at additional costs and benefits at system-, microand macroeconomic levels (Breitschopf, B., Held, A. 2014). While additional costs for final electricity consumers occur at the micro level, benefits serve special attention as they accrue across all levels and are difficult to allocate to individual actors. Among them, the contribution to innovation and technology cost development is considered as one major positive aspect of RE policy support. Tech...
Vorwort 1 Die wichtigsten Ergebnisse im Überblick 1.1 Methodische Ergebnisse 1.2 Ergebnisse kurzf... more Vorwort 1 Die wichtigsten Ergebnisse im Überblick 1.1 Methodische Ergebnisse 1.2 Ergebnisse kurzfristiger Analysen 1.3 Ergebnisse langfristiger Analysen 2 hintergrund 2.1 Brutto-und Nettobetrachtung 2.2 Frühere Ergebnisse 3 Bruttobeschäftigung gestern und heute
Advances in Environmental Studies, 2019
The target levels were pre-set in 2014 when the EU Energy Council agreed on a 40% greenhouse gas ... more The target levels were pre-set in 2014 when the EU Energy Council agreed on a 40% greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target compared to emissions in 1990, a 27% renewables target (share of RE final energy demand) and a 27% efficiency target (reduction of energy consumption compared to projections).
Ecological Economics, 2019
Macroeconomic impacts such as changes in economic structures and employment are very important wh... more Macroeconomic impacts such as changes in economic structures and employment are very important when evaluating the energy transition in societal terms. We employ a macroeconomic model that accounts for regional, economic and sectoral features. The model results show how the overall positive net impacts of the energy transition in Germany-energy efficiency and renewable energies-on economic growth and employment up to 2030 are distributed across sectors and regions. The biggest relative increases in value added occur in construction, real estate and electricity generation; the biggest decrease is in mining of lignite. Significant effects mainly result from changes in the heat and transport sectors, while the transition in the electricity sector entails smaller impacts. The latter are, however, relevant to the regional distribution: The model results suggest that especially northern and eastern German federal states will benefit economically from the energy transition because they offer attractive locations for investments. At the same time, these states are less affected by decreasing conventional energy generation. Moreover, the impact of rising electricity prices is less negative here than in the other federal states because of their lower electricity intensity in production. In summary, the energy transition represents an opportunity for these regions to strengthen their economies.
Energy & Environment, 2016
This article presents the outcomes of an assessment of expected costs and benefits of future rene... more This article presents the outcomes of an assessment of expected costs and benefits of future renewable energy use in the European Union by 2020 and beyond. A binding European Union-wide renewable energy systems target of achieving at least 27% renewable energy systems share in gross final energy demand by 2030 was adopted by the Council of the European Union in October 2014. This has to be seen as an important first step in defining the framework for renewable energy systems post-2020. Other steps, like a clear concept for and an agreement on the effort sharing across Member States have to follow. For doing so, clarity on associated costs and benefits of the future renewable energy systems expansion across European Union Member States appears highly beneficial. The aim of this article is to contribute to the renewable energy systems policy debate, providing an indication of costs and benefits resulting from increased renewable energy systems deployment within the European Union in t...
Energy & Environment, 2016
This paper describes a concept for the detailed assessment of the costs and benefits of renewable... more This paper describes a concept for the detailed assessment of the costs and benefits of renewable energy technologies deployment. A first quantitative impact assessment of German renewable energy technologies use is conducted from a historical perspective based on this comprehensive method. It includes costs and benefits at three different levels – energy system, micro- and macro-economic. The findings suggest that, at the system level, the generation costs in the electricity and heat sector are partly compensated by positive effects mainly from avoided emissions due to the use of renewable energy technologies in the electricity and heat sector. On the electricity market, small power consumers bear a very large share of the policy costs, while others might even profit from renewable energy technologies use. However, a comprehensive assessment that accounts for all the different negative and positive effects in the long term, including distributional effects, is more challenging. The...
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Papers by Barbara Breitschopf