What is the Future of Energy and Climate?

As part of a consortium, we have made significant contributions to the new study by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO). The study includes basic concepts for describing disruptive developments in energy systems. The 3i mindset, which stands for inversion, innovation and integration, seeks to find sustainable structures for energy and the climate.

The energy department (“Energiesektion”), which is now a part of the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism, commissioned WIFO with a project entitled “Impact Assessments for Energy and Climate Strategies.” The project pursues two basic objectives: to supplement the content of the already existing policies in Austria and to present innovative criteria for evaluating strategies.

The study emphasizes three top-priority areas of action for the transition to structures that comply with the goals of the energy system:

• Multifunctional buildings characterized by high energy efficiency and that play an active role in energy supply
• Integrated mobility characterized by a transition to non-fossil engines and digitalization through information technologies that help reduce the need for transportation
• Integrated grids providing new options for electricity in clusters, heat in energy grids and gas with the potential of both biogenic energy sources and hydrogen, which together offer new options for renewable energy sources

Comprehensive, supporting information is available for the corresponding areas of action:

• Perspectives for 2030 and 2050 on structures of the Austrian energy system that are compatible with the foreseeable objectives for emissions, renewable and mixed energy
• Goal-oriented innovations with a focus on buildings, mobility and grids with a role for hydrogen as both a source of energy and energy storage
• Highlight projects with a signaling effect for the intended transformations, such as the conversion of emergency generators in hospitals to microgrids that can be used in a crisis situation, a ticketing system that gradually integrates mobility as a whole, as well as the implementation of the new grid structures for electricity, heat, gas and information in a municipal development area

Project Partners

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