Based on a life-cycle sustainability assessment and the calculation of carbon abatement costs, we quantify the greenhouse-gas emission reductions and costs if green waste in the metropolitan region of Berlin, Germany, is diverted from composting into the production of hydrothermally carbonized...

This paper investigates the sustainability of the German economy when reaching the Kyoto emissions reduction target. We use a special intergenerational discounting technique which actually takes into account intergenerational peculiarities in an overlapping generations modeling framework which...

Bisher haben die USA im internationalen Klimaschutzprozess eher eine Bremserrolle gespielt. Der künftige US-Präsident Barack Obama hat nun aber einen Umschwung in der Klima- und Energiepolitik angekündigt. Er hat bereits den prominenten Physik-Nobelpreisträger Steven Chu als Energieminister...

Die Klimakonferenz in Kopenhagen im Dezember 2009 ist richtungweisend. Die G8-Länder haben sich grundsätzlich darauf verständigt, das Zwei- Grad-Ziel anzuerkennen. Viele Staaten haben wie Europa signalisiert, dass sie die Treibhausgasemissionen deutlich senken wollen. Der Erfolg von...

This paper surveys recent advances in climate models by emphasising how quantitative instruments can answer the main crucial questions addressed by the policymakers involved and therefore aid the formulation of effective global climate policies. The limits of existing models are highlighted and...

Within this paper, we analyse the fulfilment of the Kyoto-emissions reduction com-mitment exemplary in Germany and its implication on long-term paths of all macro-variables. Germany, like all other industrial or Annex B coun-tries, has to reduce its emissions by 2010 and after what we call a...

Economic losses caused by tropical cyclones have increased dramatically. It can be assumed that most losses are due to increased prosperity and a greater tendency for people to settle in exposed areas, but also that the growing incidence of severe cyclones is due to climate change. This paper...

Tropical cyclones that make landfall on the coast of the USA are causing increasing economic losses. It is assumed that the losses are largely due to socio-economic developments, i.e. growing wealth and greater settlement of exposed areas. However, it is also thought that the rise in losses is...

This study models maximum temperatures in Switzerland monitored in twelve locations using the Generalised Extreme Value (GEV) distribution. The parameters of the GEV distribution are determined within a Bayesian framework. We find that the parameters of the underlying distribution underwent a...