Balancing Energy Efficiency and Fossil Fuel: The Role of Carbon Pricing

International audienceEnergy efficiency is likely to remain a valuable support for meeting climate challenges because it involves using less primary energy to produce the same final service. We explore energy efficiency potential in relation to different fossil fuel extraction cost schemes crossed with a carbon pricing scenario built using various global carbon taxes. This sensitivity analysis relies on prospective studies conducted with the technical-and-economic, bottom-up optimization model TIAM-FR (TIMES Integrated Assessment Model), where energy efficiency is endogenized

Impacts of fossil fuel extraction costs and carbon pricing on energy efficiency policies

International audienceEnergy efficiency is llikely to remain a valuable support for meeting climate challenges because it involves using less primary energy to produce the same final service. However, efficient solutions adapted to industrial and construction stakeholders are being put into question by the recent drop in crude oil prices and the development of non-conventional resources, which reduce the incentive to save energy. These strategies are also very sensitive to carbon pricing, which can stimulate or weaken incentives created by crude oil prices. We explore energy efficiency potential in relation to different fossil fuel extraction cost schemes crossed with a carbon pricing scenario built using various global carbon taxes. This sensitivity analysis relies on prospective studies conducted with the technical-and-economic, bottom-up optimization model TIAM-FR (TIMES Integrated Assessment Model developed at the Center for Applied Mathematics MINES ParisTech), where energy efficiency is endogenized: thus, the system reaches the optimal efficiency level according to cost constraints. This representation has been implemented and calibrated for the industrial, residential and tertiary sectors to improve understanding of the balance between energy efficiency potential when considering fossil fuel extraction costs and carbon pricing patterns

Maturation by LctT Is Required for Biosynthesis of Full-Length Lantibiotic Lacticin 481

In lantibiotic lacticin 481 biosynthesis, LctT cleaves the precursor peptide and exports mature lantibiotic. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry revealed that a truncated form of lacticin 481 is produced in the absence of LctT or after cleavage site inactivation. Production of truncated lacticin 481 is 4-fold less efficient, and its specific activity is about 10-fold lower