Economics

Das Ziel dieser Studie ist es, die zukünftigen Anforderungen an österreichische Treibhausgasemissionsreduktion auf Basis normativer, Top-down Ansätze zu ermitteln.
Diese werden Bottom-up ermittelten Reduktionspotenzialen gegenübergestellt und
daraus die Beiträge einzelner Energieverbrauchergruppen (bzw. Bereiche) bestimmt.
Die globalen Top-down bestimmten Emissionstrajektorien werden so bestimmt, dass diese mit globalen Temperaturstabilisierungsszenarien von +2, 2,5 und 3 °C konsistent sind. Daraus abgeleitet ergeben sich für Österreich bis 2050 normative Treibhausgas
(THG)-Emissionsreduktionsvorgaben (gegenüber 1990) von 68 % (3°C-Ziel) bis 80 % (2°C-Ziel).
Die Analyse der Bottom-up Emissionsreduktionspotenziale wird für die Bereiche: Verkehr, Gebäude, Strom- und Wärmeerzeugung sowie die Industriesektoren Eisen- und Stahlerzeugung
sowie Zementherstellung durchgeführt und damit 65 % der Emissionen von 2010 berücksichtigt.

In many ways, the Copenhagen summit of December 2009 marked an important departure from the practice of multilateral climate cooperation over the previous two decades. The Copenhagen Accord, which was driven by the US and China, is characterized by a voluntary pledge and review system for emission reductions, and therefore a fundamental change of the current UN based multilateral approach. Within a multilateral agreement science-based emission reduction requirements could be the basis for ...

Major relationships between energy systems and oceans are due to marine transportation of energy resources, emissions from use of these resources, and mining and exploration, in particular of natural gas and crude oil. These relationships are poised to change. A multitude of problems have emerged in the fossil fuel energy sector, e.g., “peak oil” and even “peak coal”, wildly fluctuating prices of energy from fossil fuels, and massive emissions causing environmental problems such as ocean acidification. Hence, globally, significant efforts are directed at the creation of new energy systems based on renewable energy. Such systems, if constructed on a large scale, would change many parameters of ocean affairs. Large-scale construction is expected given significant investments in renewable energy systems in different parts of the globe and the prospect that such systems may become competitive in many regions in 2014. We discuss parameters of such renewable energy systems and elaborate e...

Biomass action plans in many European countries seek to expand biomass heat and fuel supply, mainly to be supplied by peripheral, agricultural regions. We develop a two-plus-ten-region energy-focused computable general equilibrium (CGE) model that acknowledges land competition in analysing the sub-state local-regional economic implications of such a strategy, embedded within a global context. Our model is based on a full