Global Energy System and Policy Analysis

Our group explores alternative energy and climate policy futures, employing computational modeling of the global energy, economy and land-use systems. Key aspects are the interactions between national policies and global outcomes and technology trends, and between short-term policy action and long-term climate, technology and sustainability outcomes. This requires an interdisciplinary approach bringing together insights from physics, engineering, economics, political science and psychology among others.

Methodologically, we employ large computational models with a comprehensive but also relatively detailed representation of the global energy system, called (process-based) integrated assessment models (IAMs). We are using and contributing to the further development of the fully open-source IAM ‘GCAM’ (Global Change Analysis Model), closely collaborating with the original developers at the Joint Global Change Research Institute and the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland (USA). Through this collaboration, we are participating, partly in leading roles, in major global model inter-comparison projects such as scenarioMIP for CMIP7 and Horizon Europe projects.

At IT:U, we have established strong ties to the research groups of Elisabeth Gsottbauer, Falko Ueckerdt, Frank Neffke and Daniel Klotz, and also cultivate the exchange with other research groups in teaching and learning and plan to expand our collaborations

Our research informs policy-relevant assessments such as reports from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We also directly collaborate with the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) to help evaluate the financial risks and opportunities associated with different future transition scenarios.