Energy, emissions and emissions trading

Energy can be obtained from conventional energy sources such as coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear fuels as well as from renewable energy sources such as wind, water, sun, biomass and geothermal energy. How we generate energy and how we use it has a massive impact on the climate. The climate also has an inverse effect on our energy requirements and the potential for energy generation. At CEN, scientists deal with various questions relating to energy and the associated climate-damaging emissions such as CO2 emissions from air traffic, agriculture and industry.

26 April 2022|Publikation

New Mechanism to Stabilize CO2 Prices

Photo: usa-reiseblogger/unsplash

In a mid-2021 reform proposal presented by the EU Commission for the existing emissions trading system in the energy and heavy industry sectors (ETS-1) and a new emissions trading system to be set up for road transport and buildings (ETS-2), each envisage similarly designed mechanisms to...

9 March 2022|CEN News

CO2 Price Could Promote Climate Protection and More Energy Independence

Mehrere Industrieessen mit Rauch. Im Hintergrund leichtes Abendrot.

Photo: Pixabay/Sigurd Rille

Making CO2 emissions more expensive – whether through taxation or emissions trading – is considered to be a key political instrument for climate protection. Doing so is intended to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas and prevent harm to the climate – but can also have a number of positive...

4 August 2021|Research

Climate Change: Colombia’s Longest River Needs to Be Managed

Eine Talsperre an der sich der Fluss aufstaut

Photo: CC-BY-Fabian

Martha Bolivar has assessed how climate change is affecting the water supply along Colombia’s Magdalena River, and what measures will be required in order to meet future water demand

In northern Colombia, the Magdalena River flows into the Caribbean Sea. From source to delta, this mighty river...

10 June 2021|CLICCS News

Climate Protection: Deep Decarbonization by 2050 Currently Not Plausible

Photo: CLICCS/Universität Hamburg

Today the Hamburg-based Cluster of Excellence “Climate, Climatic Change, and Society” (CLICCS) publishes a new, essential study on climate futures. The study represents the first systematic attempt to investigate whether a climate future with net-zero carbon emissions is not only possible but...

22 January 2021|Research

How Companies Can Protect the Climate Effectively

Photo: Etienne Godiard/ Unsplash

In the Paris Agreement, the international community committed to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees by the end of the century, preferably to 1.5 degrees. In order to achieve this goal, several countries have now introduced climate protection plans. However, these plans will be nearly...

21 September 2020|Research

A 25-euro CO2 Tax Won’t Save the Climate

Rauchende Schornsteine am RWE-Kohlekraftwerk Niederaußem

Photo: Benita Welter/Pixabay

By now, every country is being affected by climate change. Heat waves, storms and loss of biodiversity are changing our environment. And the social and economic damage is also enormous: crop failures, forest fires and health risks cost us dearly. How much money should we invest today, in order...

9 July 2019|Forschung

More renewable energy doesn’t always mean less CO2

Photo: E.Westendarp/pixelio

In the first half of 2019, the percentage of energy production in Germany from renewable sources (44%) was higher than ever, as the Federal Association of German Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) recently reported. Consequently, the emissions of harmful greenhouse gases from energy production...

16 April 2018|Interview

Emissions trading: "A powerful tool that’s become much too complicated”

Photo: UHH/RRZ/MCC/Mentz

The EU has once again reformed its emissions trading system—even though the previous reform had yet to go into effect. Grischa Perino, professor of economics at Universität Hamburg, has taken a closer look at the planned changes for the journal Nature Climate Change. His conclusions: The...

21 February 2018|Forschung

The energy transition: When maize fields become a bone of contention

Symbolbild Energielandschaft Norddeutschland

Photo: pixelio.de/E. Lorenzen

In the course of the energy transition, the proportion of renewable energy in Germany has increased significantly in recent years. But the wind turbines, biogas plants and solar parks this change entails have repeatedly come under criticism. Can such conflicts be avoided?

The transition to...

17 August 2017|Forschung

Like small blenders in the sea: offshore wind turbines

Photo: UHH/CEN/Floeter

Along Germany’s coast they seem to sprout up like mushrooms: offshore wind farms. Dozens of wind turbines, each over 100 meters tall, produce renewable electricity for our households. But do these farms disturb marine ecosystems? Or do they actually have a positive effect?

21 January 2016|Forschung

Offshore wind parks: Germany’s subsidies are too generous

Photo: UHH/CEN

Climate research in the Hamburger Abendblatt: Michael Funke reports about subsidies for offshore wind parks.

21 August 2015|Forschung

Large-scale offshore wind parks offer a cooling effect on land

Photo: UHH

The principle is as old as the windmill: if the wind is strong enough, the blades start turning, converting the moving air’s energy into mechanical energy ...

29 July 2015|Forschung

Intact natural habitats help to reduce greenhouse gases

Photo: UHH/CEN/S. Beddig

Corn and canola as far as the eye can see – plants that are processed into biogas and biodiesel can be found in many agricultural fields throughout Europe. Bioenergy is considered to ...

15 November 2013|Forschung

High Levels of CO2 Emissions Reduce Company Value

Photo: UHH/CEN/S. Janssen

News from Climate Science: Once a month, climate researchers report on their latest findings in the newspaper "Hamburger Abendblatt." Alexander Bassen investigates how the emissions trading system affects firm values.

Since the introduction of the European emissions trading, CO2 has had its...