Perception of climate change and the energy transition: results from a European survey

To achieve national and European climate targets, political leaders will need to feel confident that their citizens generally support efforts to drastically reduce CO2 emissions. An in-depth research project, called European Perceptions of Climate Change (funded within the Social-Ecological Research program), provides insights into public support for climate change related policies across four European countries. The project team identified a widespread support for the Paris climate agreement and for renewable energy solutions, which suggests that there might be an opportunity for climate movements to gain momentum

Stakeholders’ Views on Multimodal Urban Mobility Futures: A Matter of Policy Interventions or Just the Logical Result of Digitalization?

It is widely acknowledged that strategies to decarbonize energy systems cannot omit the mobility sector. For several decades, particularly in urban areas, a shift from car-based mobility to more environmental-friendly modes has been high on political agendas. Progress has been made in many urban areas, but so far only in small, rather incremental steps. The dominance of the car has remained largely stable in urban transport. For some time now, many experts have argued that processes of digitalization will co-evolve with societal trends and lead to multimodal urban mobility regimes in which private car usage will lose its dominance. In this paper, we examine if stakeholders active in the field believe that, despite digitalization, policy interventions are essential to achieve such a transition. The analysis draws on concepts from transition research and is based on 10 semi-structured interviews with providers of innovative mobility services that may contribute to more multimodal urban mobility systems. Geographical focus is on the City of Stuttgart (Germany). Results indicate broad agreement amongst the interviewees that digitalization alone is not sufficient for achieving a full-scale transition towards multimodal urban mobility. Policy measures that restrict car-based mobility would also be needed. However, many of the interviewed actors doubt that the essential policy mixes will find the necessary political and societal acceptance. Finally, the paper indicates ways to overcome this dilemma

Integrated policy package assessment (IPPA): A problem-oriented research approach for sustainability transformations

In this paper, we present the Integrated Policy Package Assessment (IPPA) approach and relate IPPA to three substantial concepts of problem-oriented research concerned with societal transformations: technology assessment (TA), sustainability research (SR), and responsible research and innovation (RRI). The IPPA approach provides (political) decision-makers with transformation and orientation knowledge via a four-step process of (1) design, (2) analysis, (3) evaluation, and (4) discourse of a policy package assessment. It is illustrated with a case study of urban passenger transport. As an integrated approach, IPPA has substantial ties to TA, SR, and RRI. It connects with TA in fundamental ways, since it combines the field of TA with the field of regulatory assessment based on consequence analysis. Connectable to the field of SR, IPPA addresses deliberation processes and sustainable pathway identification based on multi-criteria assessment. In addition, akin to the area of RRI, IPPA shows cross-cutting axes with regards to social resonance assessment and stakeholder evaluation with a focus on multi-actor responsibilities. In this contribution, we link evidence-based impact assessment with transformation pathway mechanisms and corresponding policy packages, backed by stakeholder-based responsible innovation feedback loops. This enhances the ex-ante analysis of policy packages regarding their intended as well as unintended consequences

The Integrated Policy Package Assessment approach: elaborating ex ante knowledge in the feld of urban mobility

BACKGROUND: In response to climate change challenges, a main policy emphasis is on transitioning the energy system from high- to low-carbon energy supply. The German energy transition is first and foremost based on political decisions and interventions. These decisions need to be assessed ex ante to ensure a good governance approach to energy policies, for which this paper introduces the Integrated Policy Package Assessment approach (IPPA). IPPA consists of four steps: design, assessment, evaluation and discourse. RESULTS: The results section illustrates the IPPA framework by applying it to urban passenger transport as an example case. First, the design phase was used to elaborate two complementary policy packages each consisting of several policy measures in the transformation pathways of “multi- and inter-modality”, and “alternative drive”. Second, the individual measures of the packages were impact-analysed by a large number of individual impact studies from various disciplines. Synthesizing the individual study results, we developed an impact assessment matrix for impact evaluation. The matrix covers the impact categories: technology development, sector integration, environment, social resonance, and institutional factors. In a further step, the key findings of the impact assessment were reflected and reviewed from the perspectives of various stakeholders and practice experts through a practice–science dialogue on transforming the urban passenger transport system. CONCLUSIONS: The discussion and conclusion sections outline the main findings relating to content and process aspects, when applying the IPPA framework to a policy package in urban transport

Cell-Free and Yeast-Based Production of the Malarial Lactate Transporter, PfFNT, Delivers Comparable Yield and Protein Quality

Cell-free protein production is an attractive alternative to cell-based expression. Rapid results, small-volume reactions, irrelevance of protein toxicity, flexibility, and openness of the system are strong points in favor of the cell-free system. However, the in vitro situation lacks the cellular quality control machinery comprising e.g., the translocon for inserting membrane proteins into lipid bilayers, and chaperon-assisted protein degradation pathways. Here, we compare yield and protein quality of the lactate transporter, PfFNT, from malaria parasites when produced in Pichia pastoris yeast, or in an Escherichia coli S30-extract-based cell-free system. Besides solubilization and correct folding, PfFNT requires oligomerization into homopentamers. We assessed PfFNT folding/oligomerization and function by transmission electron microscopy imaging, transport assays, and binding of small-molecule inhibitors. For the latter, we used chromatography of the PfFNT-inhibitor complex with dual-wavelength detection, and biolayer interferometry. Our data show, that PfFNT possesses an intrinsic capability for assuming the correct fold, oligomerization pattern, and functionality during in vitro translation. This competence depended on the detergent present in the cell-free reaction. The choice of detergent further affected purification and inhibitor binding. In conclusion, in the presence of a suitable detergent, cell-free systems are very well capable of producing high quality membrane proteins

Die Transformation des Verkehrssystems mit Fokus auf Policy Packages

Trotz aller politischen Ziele ist es bislang nicht gelungen, die Treibhausgasemissionen des Verkehrs unter das Niveau des Jahres 1990 zu senken. Erschwerend kommt hinzu, dass die Emissionen seit einigen Jahren wieder zunehmen. Seit 2016 liegen die absoluten Emissionen im Verkehrssektor sogar über jenen des Jahres 1990, wenn auch im Jahr 2018 ein leichter Rückgang zu konstatieren ist (BMU 2019). Nach dem ‚Klimaschutzplan 2050‘ der Bundesregierung vom November 2016 soll jetzt nicht al-lein eine Trendumkehr eingeleitet, sondern bereits bis zum Jahr 2030 eine Reduktion von etwa 40% gegenüber 1990 erreicht werden – bei weiter steigender Verkehrsleistung im Personen- und Güterver-kehr (BMU 2016). Die Dekarbonisierung des Verkehrssektors, im Sinne einer Unabhängigkeit von fos-silen Energieträgern, stellt damit auf dieser sehr kurzen Zeitachse eine der großen Herausforderungen der Energiewende dar. ENavi kann für eine erfolgreiche Strategie zur Dekarbonisierung des Verkehrssektors – auch über das Jahr 2030 hinaus – wichtige Impulse geben, weil es gerade nicht den bisherigen Ansätzen folgt, die ausgehend von einer techno-ökonomischen Analyse erst nachgelagert ökologische Aspekte, Akzep-tanzfragen oder die politische Umsetzbarkeit und internationale Implikationen adressieren, sondern weil ENavi diese Fragestellungen von Beginn an mehrdimensional bearbeitet. Die Mehrdimensionalität bedingt allerdings ein höheres Maß an Komplexität. Vor diesem Hintergrund hat sich der ENavi-Schwerpunkt 3 „Transformation des Verkehrssystems“ das Ziel gesetzt, ausgewählte und Erfolg ver-sprechende Maßnahmenbündel (sogenannte „Policy Packages“) zu entwickeln sowie vergleichend und mehrdimensional zu betrachten. Zentral für den Vergleich ist die Betrachtung gegenüber einer zukünfti-gen Entwicklung ohne die Implementation der Policy Packages im Sinne eines „business as usual“-Szenarios (BAU). Als BAU wird die Verkehrsprognose 2030 (BMVI 2014) zugrunde gelegt. Der vorliegende Endbericht fasst die Ergebnisse des Schwerpunktthemas 3 „Transformation des Ver-kehrssystems“ zusammen. Zunächst wird in Kapitel 2 der ENavi-Mechanismus einer integrierten Navi-gation vorgestellt. Kapitel 3 stellt die beiden zentralen Transformationspfade „Multi- und Intermodalität“ und „Alternative Antriebe“ vor und erläutert die auf Basis beider Pfade entwickelten Policy Packages. Kapitel 4 stellt die interdisziplinäre Folgenanalyse vor und präsentiert die Ergebnisse zur Maßnah-menspezifikation. Kapitel 5 stellt den multikriteriellen Bewertungsansatz vor und die daraus abgeleitete Wirkungsanalyse und -matrix. Kapitel 6 präsentiert Ergebnisse der diskursiven Bewertung im Rahmen eines Praxis-Wissenschaft-Dialogs zur Verkehrswende. Das abschließende Kapitel 7 fasst die Ergeb-nisse in Handlungsempfehlunge

Sustainable Diets: another hurdle or a better food future?,

The notion of sustainable diets has emerged forcibly onto the food policy agenda in recent years, but has also met resistance. The article reviews the case for sustainable diets. It counterbalances the current dominant policy emphasis on raising food output as the best route to a sustainable food future. The article suggests that a process of democratic experimentation is underway. Some official guidelines have emerged alongside a mix of civil society and academic formulations. More coherence of data, principles and purpose is needed at the global and regional policy-making levels for these to become effective in the common task of reducing the food system’s negative impact on health, environment and economies