Achieving the objectives of the German governments 2010 Energy Concept and the accelerated phase-out of nuclear energy will require significant investment in restructuring energy supply. In particular, this includes investment in installations for the use of renewable energy sources in the power...

Renewable energy sources and increased energy efficiency are not only crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other negative impacts of conventional energy supply; they also hold enormous economic opportunity. Significant and dynamically growing sectors have emerged in the area of...

As part of the energy transition process, the German government has set far-reaching energy efficiency targets, including doubling the annual rate of building renovation to upgrade energy performance from one to two percent. DIW Berlin has estimated the additional energy-savings-related...

Energy policy is confronted by two major challenges. First, fossil fuels will become ever more scarce and expensive in coming years, a trend which will intensify conflicts for the control of natural resources. Second, the burning of fossil fuels-particularly coal-is leading to an increase in...

Methane is a greenhouse gas that gets far less public attention than carbon dioxide. This is entirely unwarranted. Being 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere, methane accounts for about one-sixth of all anthropogenic (i.e. human-induced) greenhouse gas...

In the course of current climate negotiations, the world is watching the United States in particular. Together with China, the U.S. is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Real progress in protecting the global climate requires substantial action on America's part. The U.S. has the...

Electric vehicle drives offer a number of advantages over conventional internal combustion engines, especially in terms of lower local emissions, higher energy efficiency, and decreased dependency upon oil. Yet there are significant barriers to the rapid adoption of electric cars, including the...

Starting from a low level, in recent years the battery-supported self-consumption of solar electricity (solar prosumage) has grown significantly in Germany. Its growth is primarily due to the opposing trends in household electricity prices and feed-in tariffs in conjunction with government...