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Category: Renewable Energy

Climate Change . Consumer Behavior . Renewable Energy . Society

Promoting renewable energy sources in Greece: the need for change and the obstacles along the way

On 05.02.2021 by Aimilia Pattakou

Climate change urges every country to take action. Greece has decided to phase-out lignite, a key fuel in its energy mix, and increase the installed capacity of renewable energy sources. Citizens often oppose new renewable energy investments, like new wind farms. What can the Greek government do to ease this transition? Read More

Climate Change . Consumer Behavior . Electricity . Energy Efficiency . Renewable Energy . Smart Energy . Society . Transportation

Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and car sharing: Joining forces to decarbonize electricity and transport?

On 25.01.2021 by Christine Johanna Gschwendtner

How can we couple future developments in the electricity and transport systems to support decarbonization? Combining Vehicle-to-Grid and car sharing could foster both innovations and achieve synergies in decarbonizing both sectors. Read More

Climate Change . Industry decarbonization . Mobility . Renewable Energy . Society . Transportation

Why electric vehicles are more sustainable than you might think

On 12.01.2021 by Martin Beuse

Despite the recent flood of (non-academic) studies claiming differently, battery-powered electric vehicles (BEV) already provide significant environmental benefits over internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. This gap is only widening, as policy, academia, and industry are coming together to rapidly improve BEVs and battery technology in particular. Read More

Buildings . Climate Change . Energy Efficiency . Renewable Energy . Smart Energy

How smart grids will change the way architects have to design buildings

On 30.11.2020 by Christoph Waibel

In order to efficiently integrate intermittent renewable energy into our grids, we need to change the role that buildings play in a city. Instead of being mere consumers, they need to become a swarm of smart prosumers capable of stabilizing the grid. This calls for a new way how architects should design buildings, leading to the next era of architecture: “Energy Responsivism”. Read More

Climate Change . Electricity . Renewable Energy . Society . Transportation

Promoting adoption of electric motorcycles in Nepal: Challenges and Opportunities

On 17.11.2020 by Nilkanth Kumar

Kathmandu’s stark air pollution and limited public transport infrastructure poses a challenge towards achieving sustainable and adequate transport. Motorcycles are the most sought after mode of private mobility in Nepal. Electric motorcycles appear to be a viable and promising solution, but several technological, market and behavioural factors hinder their higher adoption. Read More

Climate Change . Consumer Behavior . Economics & Policy . Energy Efficiency . Renewable Energy . Society . Transportation

Beyond more Chargers for Electric Vehicles in Zurich

On 10.11.2020 by Gracia Brückmann

The conventional wisdom is that to increase battery electric vehicle (BEV) uptake, we need more charging points. However, when we spoke with citizens, car dealership representatives, representatives from car import companies, and local government about the challenges and opportunities for BEVs in Zurich, they mention different challenges, too, and present solutions to overcome them e.g., including BEVs in coherent sustainable transport systems and reducing political uncertainty. Read More

Electricity . Energy Supply . Renewable Energy

Accelerating the energy transition in developing countries: Inclusion of women in clean energy strategies

On 16.10.2020 by Cristina de los Angeles Dominguez Hernandez

In rural communities, women are the primary energy users as they are the ones performing household chores such as cooking and domestic work. For this reason, they are the most affected along with children from the use of highly-pollutant conventional fuels. Ironically, most of the time they are excluded from clean energy strategies targeted toward transitioning to clean fuels. My research has shown that gender focused initiatives targeting women can play a major role in accelerating this transition to affordable, safe, and reliable energy. Read More

Buildings . Consumer Behavior . Energy Efficiency . Energy Supply . Renewable Energy . Smart Energy . Society

Data exchange via virtual assistants is key to unlocking the full potential of the future energy system

On 01.10.2020 by Matthias Sulzer

Connecting buildings to a cross-sectoral, decentralized energy system is a proven means of integrating more renewable energy sources and further increasing energy efficiency. However, the operation of such highly interconnected energy systems is becoming painstaking. Data and algorithms will be the key to overcome these pains and to unlock the innovative systems’ full potential. Read More

Consumer Behavior . Electricity . Renewable Energy . Society . Transportation

Charging Stations in Public Parking Spaces: Case Study from Zurich’s Blue Zones

On 16.09.2020 by Ahmad Al Mugharbil

Although electric mobility has established itself commercially, lack of convenient charging infrastructure remains one of the most substantial barriers for buying an electric vehicle, from a customer’s point of view. This is especially the case for people that park their vehicles in public parking zones. This case study from Zurich’s Blue Zones discusses the techno-economic considerations policymakers need to know about investing on public charging infrastructure. Read More

Economics & Policy . Electricity . Energy Supply . Renewable Energy

Building Resilience to the Next Pandemic: The “Power” of sub-Saharan Africa’s Off-grid Electricity Sector

On 13.07.2020 by Churchill Omondi Agutu

In the wake of the current global pandemic, building resilience to future pandemics will be on the minds of many policymakers going forward. For sub-Saharan Africa, linking electrification with essential services such as healthcare, clean water and sanitation, could do double duty by expanding electricity access and making these countries more resilient to COVID-19. Read More

Economics & Policy . Electricity . Energy Supply . Renewable Energy

Navigating towards the future of renewable energy markets

On 08.07.2020 by Maciej Szybiak

The past decade was undoubtedly a great period for renewable energy (RE) sector. In 2019 alone, the total investment in RE projects worldwide amounted to over USD 250 billion, what equals one-third of the Swiss GDP or construction of 170 Wembley stadiums. However, investing is just the first element in the business puzzle. The question now is how to make RE projects profitable or at least non loss-making. Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) seem to be a promising systematic solution Read More

Consumer Behavior . Electricity . Energy Supply . Renewable Energy . Smart Energy

Jointly owned PV should be the new solar ownership model / Gemeinschaftliches Eigentum: der neue Ansatz für Photovoltaikanlagen in der Nachbarschaft

On 26.06.2020 by Danielle Griego

As societies transition from using predominantly centralized energy supply sources to increasing dependency on distributed renewable energy generation, it is no longer enough to singularly focus on energy efficiency. In particular, the time sensitivity of electricity generated from solar and wind must also become an integral part of future electric consumption behavior patterns. In this article, I outline how joint ownership of community-scale PV systems have vast potential to establish long-term and intelligent electricity consumption behavior patterns among co-owners. Read More

Climate Change . Energy Supply . Renewable Energy

Coal phase-out: Conflictive but unavoidable

On 12.06.2020 by jmarkard@ethz.ch

Phasing-out carbon-intensive technologies and business models is a key element for deep decarbonization. Coal is a prime candidate for phase-out and we cannot waste any time. However, every industry decline creates conflicts. Overcoming these conflicts is the key to success. Read More

Electricity . Renewable Energy

Why we need responsive policies to achieve a rapid energy transition

On 31.05.2020 by Alejandro Nunez-Jimenez

Because we are bad at predicting, slow at changing policies, and the stakes are too high. Responsive policies can help to overcome these limitations. Read More

Climate Change . Industry decarbonization . Renewable Energy . Transportation

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Pathways to achieve Net-Zero Carbon Shipping

On 05.05.2020 by Christina Nakhle

The time has come to implement the “pollutant pays” principle, set clear emission reduction targets and competitive incentives to enable the decarbonization of the “backbone of our economy”. Read More

Climate Change . Electricity . Energy Supply . Renewable Energy . Society

The long way ahead for the energy transition

On 22.04.2020 by Viktoras Kulionis

Concerns about the consequences of excessive global warming have increased interest in the energy transition. General belief is that the energy transition has been the dominant factor of the increased use of renewable energy. However, only few countries/regions show evidence of an actual energy transition. At the global level, its relevance is short of non-existent when you do the math. Read More

Electricity . Energy Supply . Renewable Energy . Society

Electrifying Rwanda: Why mini-grid companies have lost the game

On 07.04.2020 by Churchill Omondi Agutu

Rwanda’s goal to reach 100% electrification by 2024 relies heavily on off-grid electricity systems, like solar home systems and mini-grids. Based on my recent field research, this will be a tall order for burgeoning solar home system and, especially, mini-grid companies, who face a number of challenges to scale. Read More

Climate Change . Renewable Energy . Society

COVID-19 stimulus packages represent a critical juncture for climate policy

On 02.04.2020 by Nicolas Schmid

Governments around the world have implemented strong, science-based measures against the spread of COVID-19, ranging from border closures to the lockdown of approximately one-third of the world population. As a result, economic activity of most sectors and countries abruptly and strongly decreased. To prevent a global economic and social crisis, governments around the world have proposed massive stimulus programs. Read More

Electricity . Energy Supply . Renewable Energy

Switzerland’s strategy will not deliver the solar power it needs. Here’s why. / Die Strategie des Bundesrats wird die benötige Solarenergie nicht liefern. Die Gründe warum.

On 17.02.2020 by Léonore Hälg

The Swiss federal council proposes to support large-scale solar PV with competitive auctions for one-off investment grants. This will not scale up solar PV investment to the extent necessary to reach the Swiss climate and energy targets. I offer suggestions on how to improve the proposal. Read More

Buildings . Electricity . Energy Supply . Renewable Energy

Photovoltaics on Buildings – Ugly and Expensive or an Opportunity for Creative Design?

On 01.02.2020 by Linus Walker

The integration of solar energy technologies in buildings has been available for several decades. However, many buildings are still built without any PV or solar thermal collectors, which in my opinion is an intolerable situation. Read More

Buildings . Energy Efficiency . Heating . Renewable Energy

Retrofitting for good: insights from the Swiss Household Energy Demand Survey

On 25.11.2019 by Anna Stünzi

Findings from the Swiss Household and Energy Demand Survey shed new light on the willingness to live in a more energy-efficient building. Most surprisingly: more than 50% of the participating tenants would accept a higher rent increase than the expected savings from their energy bills after the renovation. Read More

Electricity . Energy Supply . Renewable Energy

Understanding the Scale of Back-up Generation in the Developing World

On 06.11.2019 by Yael Borofsky

Thanks to unreliable electricity grids, fossil-fuel powered generators in low- and middle-income countries constitute as much generation capacity as up to 1,000 coal-fired plants, finds a new report from the IFC and the Schatz Energy Research Center. That sounds bad for the climate and public health, but generators also help people stay out of poverty… Read More

Climate Change . Electricity . Energy Efficiency . Heating . Renewable Energy

Natural gas: a bridge fuel to nowhere

On 20.10.2019 by Ivalin Petkov

Why we have already ‘crossed the bridge’, necessitating a phase-out and heavy divestment from natural gas. The solutions are reliable, cost-competitive, and ready – decarbonized renewable energy sources with storage. Read More

Consumer Behavior . Electricity . Renewable Energy

Cheap solar alone would not prevent a renewable energy gap

On 06.10.2019 by Alejandro Nunez-Jimenez

The energy-efficiency gap describes how firms and individuals underinvest in profitable energy-saving technologies.

Will there be a similar gap for investments in renewables? Read More

Renewable Energy . Society

Energy: It’s everywhere, yet we don’t talk about it

On 24.09.2019 by Florian Manuel Egli

Welcome! You have found the Energy Blog @ ETH, a newly founded initiative to foster a debate around energy research and policy. We know there is fascinating work coming out of ETH Zurich, but often the work is very specific and its implications for society, policymakers, and individuals do not easily get across. Given the unprecedented challenges to transform our energy system, academic ivory towers do not work. We are here to break them up and mix science with policy and society. Read More

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