Manfred Fischedick

Die Umsetzung der Nachhaltigkeitstransformation erfordert die Verbreitung von transformativen Innovationen, was mit dem Umbau bestehender Systemstrukturen einhergeht und inkrementelle bis radikale Auswirkungen auf Lebenswirklichkeiten, Verhaltensroutinen oder Märkte hat. An der kontrovers geführten Diskussion rund um das Gebäudeenergiegesetz wird die Wirktiefe von solchen Systemumbrüchen spürbar. Dieser Beitrag hat zum Ziel, das Konzept von transformativen Innovationen anhand der Reaktionen auf das Gebäudeenergiegesetz einzuordnen und zu diskutieren.

In the past two years, the world has changed and global crises (e. g. the COVID-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine) increasingly dominate the headline. Decades of certainties no longer apply, risks and uncertainties are increasing, challenges are becoming more complex and at the same time require faster and more consistent action. Against that background, the text discusses what we can — and must — learn from the current crises. We must learn that we need to be more sensitive to potential risks and take precautions where necessary and possible, even if this requires pre-emptive financial and structural actions. The text focuses onis the current situation in which we have to find integrative answers reflecting the severe energy supply risks (associated with the energy import dependency from Russia) and the rising and volatile energy prices on the one hand and the climate protection challenge on the other.

2021 feiert das Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie sein 30-jähriges Bestehen. Seit seinen Anfängen macht sich das Institut für eine impact- und anwendungsorientierte Nachhaltigkeitsforschung stark. Zeit, einen Blick zurück und nach vorn zu werfen.

The development of digital technologies is accelerating, enabling increasingly profound changes in increasingly short time periods. The changes affect almost all areas of the economy as well as society. The energy sector has already seen some effects of digitalization, but more drastic changes are expected in the next decades. Besides the very positive impacts on costs, system stability, and environmental effects, potential obstacles and risks need to be addressed to ensure that advantages can be exploited while adverse effects are avoided. A good understanding of available and future digital applications from different stakeholders’ perspectives is necessary. This study proposes a framework for the holistic evaluation of digital applications in the energy sector. The framework consists of a combination of well-established methods, namely the multi-criteria analysis (MCA), the life cycle assessment (LCA), and expert interviews. The objective is to create transparency on benefits, obstacles, and risks as a basis for societal and political discussions and to supply the necessary information for the sustainable development and implementation of digital applications. The novelty of the proposed framework is the specific combination of the three methods and its setup to enable sound applicability to the wide variety of digital applications in the energy sector. The framework is tested subsequently on the example of the German smart meter roll-out. The results reveal that, on the one hand, the smart meter roll-out clearly offers the potential to increase the system stability and decrease the carbon emission intensity of the energy system. Therefore, the overall evaluation from an environmental perspective is positive. However, on the other hand, close attention needs to be paid to the required implementation and operational effort, the IT (information technology) and data security, the added value for the user, the social acceptance, and the realization of energy savings. Therefore, the energy utility perspective in particular results in an overall negative evaluation. Several areas with a need for action are identified. Overall, the proposed framework proves to be suitable for the holistic evaluation of this digital application.

Digitalization is a transformation process which has already affected many parts of industry and society and is expected to yet increase its transformative speed and impact. In the energy sector, many digital applications have already been implemented. However, a more drastic change is expected during the next decades. Good understanding of which digital applications are possible and what are the associated benefits as well as risks from the different perspectives of the impacted stakeholders is of high importance. On the one hand, it is the basis for a broad societal and political discussion about general targets and guidelines of digitalization. On the other hand, it is an important piece of information for companies in order to develop and sustainably implement digital applications. This article provides a structured overview of potential digital applications in the German energy (electricity) sector, including the associated benefits and the impacted stakeholders on the basis of a literature review. Furthermore, as an outlook, a methodology to holistically analyze digital applications is suggested. The intended purpose of the suggested methodology is to provide a complexity-reduced fact base as input for societal and political discussions and for the development of new digital products, services, or business models. While the methodology is outlined in this article, in a follow-up article the application of the methodology will be presented and the use of the approach reflected.