Energy Policy Agenda Research Articles

Towards an energy ‘literate’ architecture graduate? UK educators’ and students’ evaluation

ABSTRACTWhilst calls for upskilling and retraining the UK construction workforce to meet increasingly stringent energy targets are repeatedly documented in construction strategy and policy reports, it remains unclear how higher education, particularly architecture, is responding. The purpose of this paper is to examine how educators and students across UK architecture institutions view energy-related content in their teaching and learning, and how some of the policy initiatives are being approached. The analysis focuses on what educators and students perceive is being taught and how they evaluate issues that need to be ‘upskilled’ or ‘retrained’. This study draws on evaluative practice literature using multiple data sources including focus groups across UK accredited architecture institutions. The research identifies evaluative perspectives that educators and students draw on to discuss views such as personal interests, institutional sovereignty, experience, physical and disciplinary disconnects and an expectation that ‘something will change’. Transforming the status quo is perceived as a major obstacle whereby a school design agenda, design studio educators’ motivations and a curriculum that only gets added to are shared concerns. The findings enable foundational discussions that will help define recommendations of required educational approaches to ‘upskilling’ and ‘retraining’ in a fast-developing international energy policy agenda.

Rebound effect of efficiency improvement in passenger cars on gasoline consumption in Canada

The fossil fuel-driven transport sector has been one of the major contributors to CO2 emission across the world keeping it on the energy policy agenda for the past three decades. Canada ranks second in gasoline consumption among OECD countries and Canadian gasoline expenditure share has been increasing since the 1990s. Fuel efficiency policies aim to decrease gasoline consumption; however, the effect can be mitigated by changes in consumer behavior such as traveling more distances — a rebound effect. Thus, the effectiveness of fuel efficiency policy is dependent on the magnitude of the rebound effect. In this paper, we estimate the rebound effect for personal transportation in Canada using data from the household spending survey for the period 1997–2009. The model includes a system of expenditure share equations for gasoline, other energy goods, and non-energy goods specified by AIDS and QUAIDS models and estimated by the nonlinear SUR method. Our estimation results show a rather high average rebound effect of 82–88% but with significant heterogeneity across income groups, provinces, and gasoline prices. Specifically, the rebound effect ranges from 63 to 96% across income groups and provinces and increases with gasoline prices.

Editorial: From Regionalism to Sectoral Policies in Latin America

This first issue of Latin American Policy for 2016 addresses a myriad of topics encompassing theoretical perspectives, regional debates, and sectoral-specific policy analyses. The issue offers readers eight leading articles dealing with different subjects and perspectives. Héctor Cuadra-Montiel opens the collection with a Polanyian-based theoretical approach to state–market relationships and Mexico's market reforms. Carol Wise's contribution explains how the recent commodity boom has affected some key Latin American countries now that China's economy is losing momentum. Denis Kennedy and Brian Beaton's article explains how the creation of CELAC has once again renewed Latin American regionalism beyond the free-trade rhetoric, and Erika Moreno's analysis highlights the importance of studying the role of Ombudsmen in combating corruption in the region. We offer in the remaining four articles informative studies dealing with specific sectoral policies in five key Latin American countries. Catalina Montoya Londoño and Maryluz Vallejo Mejía's work analyzes thoroughly Colombia's Law of Victims, while Haroldo Ramanzini Júnior and Rogério de Souza Farias explore the contribution of citizens and public activism in improving Brazil's democratic architecture. Finally, Elodie Bordat-Chauvin offers a comparative analysis between Argentine and Mexican cultural policies, and Carlos Becker Pessolani provides insight on how solar energy has been introduced into Paraguay's energy policy agenda. We hope our readers enjoy this issue as much as the Latin American Policy editorial team enjoyed its elaboration.

COMMON EUROPEAN UNION ENERGY POLICY ON THE MAKING AND THE INTERESTS OF LITHUANIA

Common energy policy of the European Union is one of the most intensively de­veloping EU integration fields. Still on the integration agenda of the EU the energy policy as such appeared just recently – the main principles of the EU energy policy were laid down during 2005 and 2006 and currently this issue is one of the topical problems in various EU summits. Lithuania as the other states of Central and Eastern Europe has unique oppor­tunity to participate actively in the process of the EU energy policy developments. Two different processes – the beginning of the EU membership and genesis of the EU energy policy – started simultaneously. According to this coincidence Lithuania has an unique opportunity to participate in the formation of the EU energy policy from its birth. Lithuania perceives EU energy policy the key instrument for increasing its en­ergy security. Consequently Lithuania is interested in adoption of EU energy policy according its priorities. The aims of this article are to evaluate the benefit of the EU energy policy for Lithuania, review the main elements of this policy as well as assess Lithuania’s influence on EU energy policy. EU energy policy considering its content is multi-dimensional because it in­volves plenty of energy issues: creation of common internal market, increasing the se­curity of supply, environmental problems, development of renewable energy sources, increasing of energy efficiency, technology developments, etc. Lithuania’s interests in the agenda of the EU energy policy can be summarized in two main principles: 1) the formation of the consistent EU energy policy as soon as it is possible; 2) widening of the EU energy policy agenda including the principles of the security of supply, European neighbourhood policy and other areas. The analysis of the main EU energy policy strategy documents indicates that EU energy policy is developing in favourable direction to Lithuania’s interests. Moreover, recent EU energy policy strategy documents are more practically ap­plicable while ensuring energy security of Lithuania comparing with the previous documents that mostly were orientated towards identification of energy security problems without offering solutions how to overcome it. Energy security prob­lems of Baltic states, identified in 2006 at the European Commission energy Green Paper in 2009 were transformed to the particular plans how these problems could be solved. One of the recent EU energy policy document – Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan – is unprecedented activity by its regional form and its par­ticularly clear and binding content. These developments for the first time of the EU energy policy history demonstrates that EU already drew the trajectory of its energy policy and currently is moving towards the implementation stage of the main energy policy options. Four main achievements can be identified showing that EU energy policy de­velops accordingly to the main Lithuania energy policy interests: 1) deepening and widening consideration for the external dimension of the EU energy policy; 2) com­prehensive attitude towards the phenomenon of energy isolation of the Baltic states; 3) the integration of the EU energy policy towards other areas of EU integration; 4) increasing significance for the principle of security of supply. Concluding statement of the article is that the priorities of the EU and Lithuania energy policy are converging. This fact can be qualified as the success of Lithuanian European policy indicating that Lithuania managed to transform its national energy policy interests towards priorities of the EU energy policy.

Evaluating the barriers to specific industrial energy efficiency measures: an exploratory study in small and medium-sized enterprises

Abstract Industrial energy efficiency has raised to the top of European energy policy agenda, and particular efforts should be placed to tackle the barriers to energy efficiency of small and non-energy intensive industrial users. To enhance the adoption rate of a specific industrial energy efficiency measure, it is crucial to properly evaluate the barriers. Without a proper level of detail – considering both the measure's specificity and the evaluation's perspective – company managers are hampered when making investment decisions, and policymakers are prevented from developing the most effective policies. The paper aims at highlighting that the value of a given intervention-dependent barrier may differ when evaluating it at the company level, by technology area, or with respect to a specific measure. To achieve this objective, an exploratory investigation of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises into the metalworking sector has been performed with respect to selected cross-cutting technologies. Although general barriers appear as most relevant at the company level, large differences appear when considering intervention-dependent barriers by technology area as well as at the energy efficiency measure level. The research presents innovative results, as the literature and policymakers have not accounted so far for how the value of barriers can effectively vary with respect to a single measure, but have only considered barriers at company level. Additionally, the paper highlights that differences can be appreciated when evaluating the intervention-dependent barriers according to some firm characteristics (i.e. size, production complexity, and innovativeness). The study concludes with suggestions for policymakers as well as industrial decision-makers.

The use of systematic reviews to analyse demand-side management policy

Demand-side management (DSM) seeks to reduce overall energy consumption or change when energy is used to reduce peak demands and smooth the load curve. DSM is increasingly moving to the forefront of the energy policy agenda in many countries due to objectives for energy security, affordability and carbon emissions reduction. However, the policy side of DSM has been little explored in the literature, and the paper proposes how the method of systematic reviews can be applied to the energy policy field. Systematic reviews are commonly used in the medical sciences and are beginning to be applied to social science disciplines. The realist synthesis approach is utilised to determine not only impacts, but to analyse how and why policies are successful, and how contextual factors, such as market structure and regulatory environment, influence their success. A study quality assessment scale is proposed to appraise the quality of studies in determining what documents are included in the review. Systematic reviews are an effective method for collating the results of all the previous studies that have been done on a given programme, and it has an important and useful role for improving the evidence base for informing energy policy. The paper focuses on evaluating the method, discusses the case for realist synthesis to overcome issues of establishing how and why DSM policies work or fail and gives an example from ongoing research into how it can be applied to analyse DSM policy.

The energy-security–climate-change nexus in Brazil

How do competing claims about energy-security and climate-change policies play out in the Brazilian domestic system? Has the Brazilian government’s recent attempt to unite climate and energy-security narratives around the notion of ‘sustainability’ had a substantive impact on Brazil’s energy and environmental policies? Domestic and international environmental actors have played increasingly important roles while lobbying the government to include an environmental/climate-change dimension to its energy-security approaches. However, climate-change concerns, as conventionally articulated by environmental actors, are not at the core of the government’s energy policy agenda. Environmental results, which emerged in Brazil as fringe benefits of past energy-security policies, have been skilfully captured by the political leadership as a way to promote Brazil’s climate-change credentials. To inform analysis of the alleged environmental sustainability of hydroelectricity and home-grown biofuels as a showpiece of Brazil’s contribution to tackling climate change, the varied interpretations of energy security and their implications for climate-change interventions are explored. Empirical examination of the interaction between energy and climate policies in Brazil is followed by analysis of the Brazilian negotiating position in multilateral climate meetings.

Policy innovation for technology diffusion: a case-study of Japanese renewable energy public support programs

Due to local scarcity of fossil fuel reserves, deployment of renewable energy has been on the Japanese government energy policy agenda for decades. While a significant amount of government budget was being allocated to renewables Research and Development, in contrast very little attention was paid to public support for renewable energy deployment. Against this background, in 2003, the Japanese government enacted legislation based on the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) scheme, which requires electricity retailers to supply a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources to grid consumers. The RPS legislation had been expected to ensure market efficiency, as well as bringing a steady increase in renewable capacity. Later, in 2009, the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme was introduced to let electricity utilities purchase electricity generated from renewable energy sources with regulated prices. This paper aims to use the choice of renewable policy as a case-study to understand barriers for policy transfer and innovation, mainly through comparative studies between RPS and FIT in Japan. The result of this study shows that, in Japan, most policy-makers face the ‘lock-in’ of existing technology, which frustrates the deployment of renewable energy. For this reason, there is reluctance to allow experimentation that could promote a shift to other energy sources. In order to achieve the rapid change towards green industry, innovation policy needs to be implemented through effective and efficient methods, such as a carbon tax for fossil fuels; enlargement of renewable energy deployment to sources such as wind, geothermal and solar; and conducting further studies toward public preference and willingness to pay for the new clean energy sources.

The constraints in managing a transition towards clean energy technologies in developing nations: reflections on energy governance and alternative policy options

The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework stimulating a sustainable energy transition in developing nations. Based on the existing literature, we first index theoretical factors preventing deployment of low carbon technologies. After having identified these factors, we provide energy governance structures and policy options strengthening the diffusion of low carbon technologies in developing nations. We argue that stimulating an adoption of renewable technologies in developing nations requires a combination of actions overlapping technological, market and institutional components. Moreover, to generate a sustainable energy system paradigm, energy policy makers in developing nations should embed a promotion of renewable technologies in their national energy policy agendas. This paper also seeks to lay down foundations through which the objective of promoting deployment of low carbon technologies in developing nations could be achieved.

Paradigms, Policy and Governance: The Politics of Energy Regulation in the UK Post‐2000

ABSTRACTThis paper considers the debate around energy policy and government regulation in the UK, considering Helm's idea that the current period can be conceptualized as a distinct ideological paradigm in the same way that both nationalization and privatization were enmeshed within particular political and economic goals. As he reasons, the first paradigm was based on nationalization and had the purpose of bringing vital services under public ownership and the second paradigm was constructed around the premises of liberalization and privatization. Drawing on the work of Mitchell, the paper explores Helm's observations on the link between ‘paradigms and policy’ to suggest that the failings of a market‐based approach to addressing climate change and energy security argue that a more radical shift in direction and thinking is needed. In particular, it is argued that the UK Government's more recent targets on reducing carbon emissions suggest the need for an energy policy agenda that is more clearly de‐linked from the current emphasis on market solutions and associated political thinking. It is argued that such a transition in policy would need to revolve around Kuhn's pre‐conditions of a ‘gestalt switch’ – as indicated in both previous UK regulatory approaches to energy. We suggest that, in much the same way as the dominant scientific consensus structured Kuhn's original conception of a paradigm, such a shift in policy will involve a ‘gestalt switch’, and a politically led shift away from the influence of thinking which currently remains rooted in previous infrastructural and ideological legacies. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Assessing the economic efficiency of bioenergy technologies in climate mitigation and fossil fuel replacement in Austria using a techno-economic approach

The core issues of the Austrian energy policy agenda include reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. Within this study, the costs of GHG mitigation and fossil fuel replacement (abatement costs) of established and upcoming bioenergy technologies for heat, electricity and transport fuel production are assessed. Sensitivity analyses and projections up to 2030 illustrate the effect of dynamic parameters on specific abatement costs. The results show that the abatement costs of wood-based heat generation technologies substituting oil-fired boilers and gas-fired heating plants, respectively, are in the range of −45 € per ton CO 2-equivalent (€/t CO 2-eq.) and −11 € per MW h higher heating value (€/MW h HHV) to 93 €/t CO 2-eq. and 24 €/MW h HHV. Heating systems around 50 kW show the lowest abatement costs. For combined heat and power (CHP) plants, two different cases with regard to heat utilization are assumed. In an optimal mode (100% of generated heat displaces fossil fuel-based heat production), abatement costs of wood-based technologies, substituting electricity from modern combined cycle gas turbines, range from 5 €/t CO 2-eq. and 1 €/MW h HHV to 201 €/t CO 2-eq. and 38 €/MW h HHV. Representative values of typical CHP plants with a capacity of 1 MW el and more are in the magnitude of 50 €/t CO 2-eq. and 10 €/MW h HHV. Under less favorable conditions (3000 heat full load hours per year), abatement costs of typical plants are around 100 €/t CO 2-eq. and 17 €/MW h HHV higher. The costs of GHG mitigation and fossil fuel saving with established transport fuels (biodiesel and ethanol) range from 71 €/t CO 2-eq. and 8 €/MW h HHV to 200 €/t CO 2-eq. and 82 €/MW h HHV. For liquid fuels from lignocellulosis, abatement costs are estimated 147 €/t CO 2-eq. and 38 €/MW h HHV to 240 €/t CO 2-eq. and 59 €/MW h HHV. The abatement costs of synthetic natural gas are found to be significantly lower: 75 €/t CO 2-eq. and 14 €/MW h HHV to 128 €/t CO 2-eq. and 23 €/MW h HHV. The results suggest that heat generation and – given favorable conditions – CHP generation are the most cost-efficient options for reducing GHG emissions and fossil fuel dependence in Austria. A core advantage of CHP is higher quantities of abatement per unit of biomass used. In contrast, this is found to be the main drawback of synthetic transport fuels from wood.

‘Energy security’ and ‘climate change’: Constructing UK energy discursive realities

Recently, in the United Kingdom, two issues have dominated the energy policy agenda: effective climate change mitigation and energy security. Whilst evolving government policy has led to government support for new build nuclear power as part of the nation's future energy mix, limited attention has been devoted to examining how arguments were constructed to lead ‘naturally’ to nuclear new build as an option for addressing these two issues. Using Critical Discourse Analysis this paper analyses the struggles within the climate change mitigation and energy security discourses in generating and/or replacing meanings. In particular, it examines how construction of the dominant (hegemonic) discourses led ‘naturally’ to the necessity of new build nuclear power. This paper draws upon 24 stakeholder interviews to examine the hegemonic and counter-hegemonic discourses. It outlines how climate change and energy security were perceived as motivators for energy policy; it shows how the combination of the dominant construction of climate change as an environmental issue and the construction of energy security as a ‘ gas gap’ lent weight to the argument for nuclear new build. Struggling against these discourses is a counter-hegemonic discourse centred around climate change as a symptom of unsustainability and energy security as a lack of energy diversity. The latter, rather than ‘naturally’ proposing an urgent need for nuclear new build, lead to the argument for readdressing the focus of, and use of resources by, society – reducing energy demand and increasing energy supply diversity.

Global energy security and the implications for the EU

The following article will analyse the global and geopolitical dimensions of the future international energy security and its implications for Europe and the EU-27. In this context, I will discuss to which extent the EU's newly proclaimed “Energy Action Plan” of the EU Spring summit of 2007 and its declared common energy (foreign) policy are a sufficient strategy to cope with the new global and geopolitical challenges. The article concludes the following: (1) The interlinkage between globally designed traditional energy security concepts – that rely just on economic factors and “market-strategies” – and domestic as well as regional political stability demands new thinking with regard to both energy supply security and foreign and security policies. (2) Although after the Russian–Ukrainian gas conflict in January 2006, energy security has forced its way up the European energy and foreign policy agendas, the EU-27 member states have largely failed to forge a coherent European energy security and energy foreign policy strategy after their Spring summit of 2007 because its declared political solidarity has been still lacking. But the 2nd Strategic Energy Review of November 2008 has recommended new initiatives to overcome this lack by promoting concrete infrastructure and other projects for enhancing Europe's supply security and its political solidarity as part of a common energy (foreign) policy. If the EU is able to implement the March 2007 and November 2008 decisions, the EU oil and gas demand will drastically reduce and freeze at current levels. In this case, Putin's energy policies by using Russia's energy resources and pipeline monopolies as a political instrument to enforce its economic and geopolitical interests will be proved as self-defeating in Russia's long-term strategic interests. It will reduce Gazprom's gas exports to a much smaller EU gas market than originally forecasted as the result of a deliberate EU policy of decreasing its overall gas demand and by diversifying its gas imports.

Can the European Union’s Market Liberalism Ensure Energy Security in a Time of ‘Economic Nationalism’?

The EU’s higher profile in energy policy matters is arguably due to the increased importance of market liberalisation as a policy objective over the last twenty years. Given the EU’s own competences in the internal market and competition policy, the European Commission has accordingly been able to play a more active role in energy policy-making. Moreover it has been active in extending this approach to its energy relations with its neighbours as manifest in the Energy Charter Treaty, the European Energy Community Treaty and bilateral agreements with third countries. The European Commission has been keen to assert the centrality of market liberalisation to its future energy policy and energy diplomacy, notwithstanding the changes that have taken place in energy markets. Given that there appears to be an increased interest in ‘national champions’ amongst both energy exporting countries and at least some EU member states, how far can the EU sustain a strategy of market liberalisation? The article will place current policy dilemmas (and the EU’s role) in the context of a shifting energy policy agenda – essentially from a supply security ‘economic nationalism’ to market liberalism and back again. It then considers how EU policy is adapting to these circumstances and assesses the effectiveness of this response.

Breaking out of the efficiency box

Those of us who have been working at the interface between energy efficiency research and policy for a while share a double frustration. The first is that in spite of solid evidence that energy efficiency saves money, pollution and carbon, many sound policies and projects have long been collecting dust on the shelves of policy makers, energy suppliers, businesses and consumers. In other words, we still face the hugely important task of finding ways to get economically viable and technically feasible projects out into everyday practice. The second frustration derives from a timid reaction in the energy community to the increasing importance of environment and climate change. These lay down a gauntlet for deep changes in both energy policy and research agendas. We have been far too slow in adjusting our thoughts and actions to address these changes. For a long time, we have been held hostage by a peculiar form for economic thinking which, from the inside of its box, has viewed the resolution to the energy problem in optimising resources perceived as scarce in the short run but infinite in a long run. We should have moved out of this box earlier, but our imaginations have been captured by the promises of efficiency and optimisation. We have been slow to recognise that environmental carrying capacities are indifferent to efficiency but rather react to the volume of pollutants and emissions. For many categories of pollutants, especially CO2, these continue to increase in most parts of the world, or at least not decrease at rates necessary to avoid potential catastrophic changes. The onus is on Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries to reduce the use of conventional energy production. Substitution with renewable energy production will contribute to this, but as has so clearly been illustrated in the recent debates on biofuels, every form for energy production, renewable or not, has social and environmental consequences. The cleanest, cheapest and least intrusive way to free up more energy for basic needs is to reduce the consumption of energy for key ‘energy services’ such as heating and cooling, food chain refrigeration and (auto)mobility, to name a few. It is time to lift our heads out of the box which is built on assumptions about individual devices, atomEnergy Efficiency (2008) 1:105–106 DOI 10.1007/s12053-008-9014-x

Estimating Cost Structures in the U.S. Nuclear Power Industry

With growing concerns about global warming and surging oil prices, nuclear power is now back on the U.S. energy policy agenda. This paper provides firm level analysis of the production technology and cost structures in the U.S. nuclear power generation industry. The paper applies an econometric approach into a dual restricted variable cost function within a “temporal equilibrium” framework. A panel data set of 32 nuclear power generations for major U.S. investor owned utilities over the period 1986–2002 is used. The major finding indicates that most electric utilities in the nuclear electricity generation industry over utilized capital in production. The estimated results show evidence of scale economies in the production of the electricity industry. The paper presents supporting evidence that nuclear technology is cheaper than other alternative technologies and fuels, and it can offer possible cost savings to other alternative technologies.

Combining bottom-up and top-down

We motivate the formulation of market equilibrium as a mixed complementarity problem which explicitly represents weak inequalities and complementarity between decision variables and equilibrium conditions. The complementarity format permits an energy-economy model to combine technological detail of a bottom-up energy system with a second-best characterization of the over-all economy. Our primary objective is pedagogic. We first lay out the complementarity features of economic equilibrium and demonstrate how we can integrate bottom-up activity analysis into a top-down representation of the broader economy. We then provide a stylized numerical example of an integrated model — within both static and dynamic settings. Finally, we present illustrative applications to three themes figuring prominently on the energy policy agenda of many industrialized countries: nuclear phase-out, green quotas, and environmental tax reforms.

The Relevance of Unbundling for Large-Scale Res-E Grid Integration in Europe

Market integration of RES-E generation technologies is one of the core topics in the energy policy agenda of the European Commission (EC). However, legislation in this context still faces a variety of shortcomings (e.g. ignoring basic unbundling principles) in almost all Member States of the European Union (EU). Therefore, the major objective of this paper is to comprehensively discuss several dimensions of correct unbundling in the context of large-scale RES-E grid integration. Moreover, currently existing demarcation lines between the RES-E power plant, the grid infrastructure and overall system operation are questioned. It is also shown that there exist partly conflicting interests in cost remuneration of different disaggregated cost elements (grid connection costs, grid reinforcement/upgrading costs, extra system operation costs) for different market actors (RES-E developer, grid operator, system operator). It is concluded that only a convergence of different ongoing policies (RES-E promotion policy and grid regulation policy) guarantees the fulfilment of the ambitious goals of the EC on large-scale RES-E grid integration with minimal costs for society.

The Environmentalists Struggle with Energy Security Or: If Maslow Were in Energy Politics

The article claims that access to energy, supply security, energy costs, environmental issues and social acceptance are subject not to trade-off, but to a hierarchy that underlies the importance of satisfying lower order needs before addressing the higher order ones. The following essay demonstrates the hierarchy with an "energy policy needs pyramid" based on historical evidence. The pyramid is used to analyze the viability of current items of the energy policy agenda.

Economics of large-scale intermittent RES-E integration into the European grids: analyses based on the simulation software GreenNet

Market integration of Renewable Energy Technologies for Electricity (RES-E) generation is one of the core topics in the energy policy agenda of the European Commission (EC). However, legislation in this context still faces a variety of lacks (e.g. ignoring unbundling principles) in almost all countries of the European Union (EU). The recently finished EC-Project GreenNet addresses these existing inadequacies and models dynamic time paths up to the year 2020 for a variety of least-cost RES-E grid integration cases in the EU for different degrees of unbundling and different cost allocation schemes. The major results derived from GreenNet clearly demonstrate that the degree of unbundling and the implemented allocation principles of different disaggregated cost elements significantly influence RES-E deployment both on national as well as on EU level up to the year 2020. The major conclusion is that serious unbundling and correct allocation of RES-E related grid integration costs only guarantee the fulfilment of the ambitious EC goals with minimal costs for society.