Melting-pots and salad bowls: the current debate on electricity market design for RES integration

This paper discusses a series of issues regarding the economic integration of intermittent renewables into European electricity markets. This debate has gained in importance following the large-scale deployment of wind farms and photovoltaic panels. As intermittent renewables constitute a significant share of the installed generation capacity, they cannot be kept isolated from the electricity markets. We argue that RES integration is first and foremost an issue of economic efficiency, and we review the main debates and frameworks that have emerged in the literature. we first consider to what extent intermittent resources should be treated the same way as dispatchable resources. we then analyse the different tools that have been proposed to ensure the required flexibility will be delivered: finer temporal granularity and new price boundaries, integration of a complex set of balancing markets, and introduction of tailor–made capacity remuneration mechanisms. Finally we introduce the topic of space redistribution, confronting crosscontinental markets integration to the emergence of a mosaic of local markets

Integrating Life Cycle Management for a more Circular Data Centre Industry

The Data Centre Industry (DCI) is concentrated in North-West Europe, especially UK, Germany, France & Netherlands. DC equipment is replaced every 1–5 years, substantially contributing to the production of WEEE (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment), one of the fastest growing waste streams. WEEE from DC equipment contains Critical Raw Materials of high technical and economic importance and vulnerable to supply disruption, partly exported or sent to landfill at end of life. At present small share of DC equipment Critical Raw Materials are recycled and recovered per year. In this context, project partners from UK (London South Bank University), France (TEAM2, Terra Nova Development and WeLOOP), Germany (Wuppertal Institute for climate, environment and energy) and Netherlands (Green IT Amsterdam) are working together on a Circular Economy for the Data Centre Industry (CEDaCI). CEDaCI will facilitate the implementation of a Circular Economy (CE) for Critical Raw Materials in NWE and reduce the environmental impact arising from the growth in redundant equipment, by simultaneously increasing CRM recovery, reducing use of virgin materials and developing a secure and economically viable CRM supply chain. The project if co-funded by Interreg North-West Europe Programme. This contribution aims at presenting the CEDaCI project and sharing results of the LCM situational analysis for Data Centre Industry. The results of this phase include: State of art and assessment of current practices & emerging trends (with focus in all partner countries), Identify challenges and barriers and potential solutions for implementation, Establishment of criteria (age of the equipment, technology, components, etc.) for selection of equipment for refurbishing and recycling

Induced innovation in energy technologies and systems: a review of evidence and potential implications for CO2 mitigation

We conduct a systematic, interdisciplinary review of empirical literature assessing evidence on induced innovation in energy and related technologies. We explore links between demand-drivers (both market-wide and targeted); indicators of innovation (principally, patents); and outcomes (cost reduction, efficiency, and multi-sector/macro consequences). We build on existing reviews in different fields and assess over 200 papers containing original data analysis. Papers linking drivers to patents, and indicators of cumulative capacity to cost reductions (experience curves), dominate the literature. The former does not directly link patents to outcomes; the latter does not directly test for the causal impact of on cost reductions). Diverse other literatures provide additional evidence concerning the links between deployment, innovation activities, and outcomes. We derive three main conclusions. (1) Demand-pull forces enhance patenting; econometric studies find positive impacts in industry, electricity and transport sectors in all but a few specific cases. This applies to all drivers - general energy prices, carbon prices, and targeted interventions that build markets. (2) Technology costs decline with cumulative investment for almost every technology studied across all time periods, when controlled for other factors. Numerous lines of evidence point to dominant causality from at-scale deployment (prior to self-sustaining diffusion) to cost reduction in this relationship. (3) Overall Innovation is cumulative, multi-faceted, and self-reinforcing in its direction (path-dependent). We conclude with brief observations on implications for modeling and policy. In interpreting these results, we suggest distinguishing the economics of active deployment, from more passive diffusion processes, and draw the following implications. There is a role for policy diversity and experimentation, with evaluation of potential gains from innovation in the broadest sense. Consequently, endogenising innovation in large-scale models is important for deriving policy-relevant conclusions. Finally, seeking to relate quantitative economic evaluation to the qualitative socio-technical transitions literatures could be a fruitful area for future research

Path dependence in energy systems and economic development

Energy systems are subject to strong and long-lived path dependence, owing to technological, infrastructural, institutional and behavioural lock-ins. Yet, with the prospect of providing accessible cheap energy to stimulate economic development and reduce poverty, governments often invest in large engineering projects and subsidy policies. Here, I argue that while these may achieve their objectives, they risk locking their economies onto energy-intensive pathways. Thus, particularly when economies are industrializing, and their energy systems are being transformed and are not yet fully locked-in, policymakers should take care before directing their economies onto energy-intensive pathways that are likely to be detrimental to their long-run prosperity