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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 […]
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Eliciting knowledge from stakeholders to identify critical issues of the transition to climate neutrality in Greece, the Nordic Region, and the European Union
There are considerable differences in the pace and underlying motivations of the energy transition in the different geographical contexts across Europe. The European Union’s commitment to climate neutrality by 2050 requires a better understanding of the energy transition in different contexts and scales to improve cooperation of involved actors. In this article, we identify critical […]
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Bridging the transparency gap in energy efficiency financing by co-designing an integrated assessment framework with involved actors
Energy efficiency investments are subject to various risks and uncertainties, which may affect involved actors’ profitability, and as such, there is a need for developing tools to support their decisions. So far, the developed methodological frameworks that aim at projecting the profitability and risk of such investments present a high technical complexity, and involved actors […]
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Risks and mitigation strategies in energy efficiency financing: A systematic literature review
The ever-growing need for boosting energy efficiency implementation towards achieving the targets set at a European level till 2050, has made the upscaling of energy efficiency investments an imperative. This endeavor requires the analysis and evaluation of energy efficiency investments with respect to all the related technical aspects and uncertainty factors. Nonetheless, up to date, […]
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Why energy models should integrate social and environmental factors: Assessing user needs, omission impacts, and real-word accuracy in the European Union
Energy models are used to inform and support decisions within the transition to climate neutrality. In recent years, such models have been criticised for being overly techno-centred and ignoring environmental and social factors of the energy transition. Here, we explore and illustrate the impact of ignoring such factors by comparing model results to model user […]
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Existing tools, user needs and required model adjustments for energy demand modelling of a carbon-neutral Europe
To achieve the European Union’s target for climate neutrality by 2050 reduced energy demand will make the transition process faster and cheaper. The role of policies that support energy efficiency measures and demand-side management practices will be critical and to ensure that energy demand models are relevant to policymakers and other end-users, understanding how to […]
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Wind repowering: Unveiling a hidden asset
Given the abundant availability of resources, the market potential, and their cost competitiveness, onshore wind farms and photovoltaic units are expected to drive the overall growth of renewable energy sources in the next decade. However, Europe is a small and densely populated continent, which results in many countries experiencing a severe shortage of suitable land […]
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Pioneering a performance-based future for energy efficiency: Lessons learnt from a comparative review analysis of pay-for-performance programmes
Energy efficiency targets and funding for reducing energy consumption in buildings play a significant role in the international policy landscape. Energy efficiency can deliver both sustained reductions in energy usage by improving baseline efficiency as well as targeted peak demand reductions. However, despite the many benefits, energy efficiency faces barriers to achieving its full potential. […]