In order to limit global warming to 2°C, industrialised countries like Germany are obliged to de-carbonise their energy systems extensively by the middle of the century. The building sector – particularly the building stock – plays a pivotal role in the long-term climate protection...

Best practice policy design and harmonisation of support schemes for electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E) within the European Union have been discussed controversially for years. In contrast, policies for improving renewable heating (RES-H) penetration in the European Member States...

Renewable energy sources of heat offer the substantial economic, environmental and social benefits associated with renewable electricity but policy to support their expansion is considerably less advanced. The potential for applying various support instruments to renewable heat is considered...

Whereas the contribution from renewable energies in the electrical power market is increasing rapidly, similar progress in the heat market is yet to be made. A prerequisite for progress is the development of innovative support instruments that transcend the usual support through public subsidies...

The idea of generating electricity in North Africa using concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) has been around for some time now but has recently gained momentum through the Mediterranean Solar Plan (MSP) and the formation of the Desertec Industrial Initiative. This paper argues that while the...

We analyze the change of energy consumption and CO2 emissions in China's cement industry and its driving factors over the period 1990–2009 by applying a log-mean Divisia index (LMDI) method. It is based on the typical production process for clinker manufacturing and differentiates among four...

Europe's 2020 greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target consists of two sub-targets: one for the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) sectors and one for the non-ETS sectors. The non-ETS target covers CO2 emissions in buildings, transport and non-ETS industry and non-CO2 GHG emissions. The non-ETS target...

We show that renewable energy contributes to Europe's 2020 primary energy savings target. This contribution, which is to a large extent still unknown and not recognized by policy makers, results from the way renewable energy is dealt with in Europe's energy statistics. We discuss the policy...