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Expanding natural gas infrastructure in Greece: Good practice or missed opportunity of a green and inclusive transition?
The vision of climate neutrality is no longer characterised by a single spatial focus as there is a clear need for collaboration at, and across, different governance levels. This is particularly important as regional and local authorities are given a more active role in implementing energy transitions; when it comes to policymaking, though, their needs […]
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Towards decarbonisation or lock-in to natural gas? A bottom-up modelling analysis of the energy transition ambiguity in the residential sector by 2050
While a green transition in the Greek building sector is considered critical towards a secure and resilient energy system by 2050, national policymaking continues to support schemes and investments on the expansion of the natural gas grid in the mainland, viewing natural gas as a transition fuel, especially in the residential sector. In this context, […]
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Bidirectional soft-linking of a Capacity Expansion Model with a Production Cost Model to evaluate the feasibility of transition pathways towards carbon neutrality in the power sector
Energy models have been a valuable tool in support of well-informed decision-making towards the transition to climate neutrality in the European Union. However, considering the extra levels of detail required when designing a system based on intermittent renewables, modelling approaches in the field often lack the necessary time resolution, or are not open source, raising […]
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Gender-blind energy efficiency policy-making in Europe: risks and challenges for the private rented sector
Women across Europe are disproportionately vulnerable to energy poverty, a result of pervasive societal gender inequalities, such as lower incomes and unequal care responsibilities, whilst being underrepresented in decision-making spheres. Furthermore, pressures on social housing have seen more low-income families pushed into low quality, costly and precarious housing in the private rented sector (PRS), increasing […]
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Climbing a new hill: a review of Member States’ strategies to meet their energy savings obligation for 2021–2030
The EU and 21 out of 27 Member States achieved their headline 2020 target for energy efficiency in terms of maximum final energy consumption (not to exceed). This was partly due to COVID19. The picture is even more mixed when looking at Member States’ energy savings obligation: 14 Member States met their target of cumulative […]
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How the COVID-19 pandemic changed stakeholder engagement processes in sustainability research in the long-term
Background The COVID-19 pandemic affected stakeholder engagement in sustainability research projects in many ways. But which effects appear permanent today, after the pandemic ended? Methods To address this, we interviewed researchers and stakeholders and carried out a survey among European sustainability research projects in 2022. Results We find that the pandemic years disrupted stakeholder-based research, […]
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Least-cost or sustainable? Exploring power sector transition pathways
The 2022 energy crisis augmented the European ambition for RES capacity expansion. However, beyond the issue of “how many” renewables, the research question that remains, is which capacity mixes achieve the emissions reduction, renewable integration, and energy autarky targets in a cost-effective way. This paper tries to answer this inquiry supported by two energy models […]
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Adaptation to climate change in cities of Mediterranean Europe
Cities across Mediterranean Europe face common climatic threats. They are highly vulnerable and very likely to suffer losses and damages due to heat waves, droughts, wildfires, landslides, and extreme coastal events. To this date, however, there is no systematic understanding of how cities in Mediterranean Europe are preparing to adapt to these impacts. To address […]
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Devising policy strategies for the deployment of energy efficiency Pay-for-Performance programmes in the European Union
Triggering a massive wave of renovation in buildings and sustaining it over the long term requires a mix of policy instruments ranging from regulations, renovation incentives, and financial models. In this context, an innovative financing approach to consider is Pay-for-Performance (P4P) programmes, which use data-driven measurement and verification approaches and engage both energy and third-party […]
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Quality of urban climate adaptation plans over time
Defining and measuring progress in adaptation are important questions for climate adaptation science, policy, and practice. Here, we assess the progress of urban adaptation planning in 327 European cities between 2005 and 2020 using three ‘ADAptation plan Quality Assessment’ indices, called ADAQA-1/ 2/ 3, that combine six plan quality principles. Half of the cities have […]
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Are there preferable capacity combinations of renewables and storage? Exploratory quantifications along various technology deployment pathways
The decarbonization of the electricity sector is at the core of the European agenda, with renewable energy sources playing a leading role. A major challenge emerging with increasing shares of intermittent renewables is their efficient integration. To overcome this challenge, electricity storage systems are identified as components which will be inseparable from renewable generation in […]
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How to improve energy efficiency policies to address energy poverty? Literature and stakeholder insights for private rented housing in Europe
Households in the private rented sector (i.e., households renting properties at a market rate from a private landlord), and especially those of lower income, face far more energy poverty issues than the general population, meaning that they are often unable to afford socially and materially required levels of energy services. In this context, energy efficiency […]