In a world where climate change has become a proven reality, it is clear that global energy consumption is currently on an unsustainable path. Humankind's insatiable appetite for energy has sparked a new crisis, and there is a deep uncertainty about what the long term physical, economic and...

The purpose of this paper is to critically discuss the main advantages of introducing environmental regulation tools such as tradable permits markets. Current climate policies, the negotiations under way at the international level, and past experiences with emissions trading in the USA and...

The paper presents findings of a large study on socio-economic impacts of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster on the Japanese agriculture and food sector. It contains fourteen parts: introduction with the framework of analysis; a brief description of events and...

Conceptualizing externalities from perceived nuclear risk as being related to distance from nuclear facilities, we estimate the relationship between Swiss citizens’ life satisfaction (understood as a proxy of utility) and the distance of their place of residence from the nearest nuclear power...

There is an ongoing discussion about whether the German electricity market offers sufficient incentives for investment in power plants and for keeping them connected to the grid, thus ensuring sufficient security of supply. Recommendations for further securing power supply include payments, some...

Coal-fired power stations are responsible for around a third of Germany's carbon emissions. Failure to reduce the persistently high level of coal-fired power generation threatens Germany's climate targets for 2020 and 2050 and undermines a sustainable energy transition. Calculations by DIW...

The aim of the European Emissions Trading Scheme is to reduce environmentally harmful greenhouse gas emissions and incentivize investment in low-emission technologies. However, in recent years, a large surplus of emission allowances has accumulated, primarily as a result of an unexpected...

Various capacity mechanisms are currently being discussed in Germany and beyond with a view to increasing supply security in the power sector. One of these mechanisms includes keeping a strategic reserve which means only using specific individual power plants in emergency situations when supply...