#Energy & Sustainability
Europe needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions three times faster than the current rate; a challenge which, for the European Union to succeed, requires the deployment of all currently identified forms of technology and flexibility, as well as a joint effort from the electricity and gas sectors.
The EU could be a frontrunner in the global energy transition, reaching net zero by 2050, but this will require an enormous effort to integrate the energy system whilst continuing to meet demand. The integration of the energy system, known as sector coupling, is commonly understood as integrating the energy consuming sectors (such as buildings, transport and industry) and optimising them with the energy supply sector. This CERRE Energy & Climate report focuses on coupling between electricity and gas supply systems.
"We remodelled the European Commission's 1.5 TECH and COMBO scenarios and took them further with two additional, extreme cases. Our conclusion is straightforward: European single markets in electricity, methane, hydrogen and carbon are essential to fully exploit sector coupling in the pursuit of net zero", explains Chi Kong Chyong, co-lead author of the report.
As the debate heats up in Brussels and the European Commission is preparing its Fit for 55 Package, this report aims to make a landmark contribution to the discussion, presenting the outcomes of a pan-European state-of-the-art energy optimisation model and developing four possible scenarios to achieve deep decarbonisation by 2050. The authors shed light on the thorny path towards net zero, proposing a menu of more than forty regulatory and policy recommendations – ranging from the key role played by electricity, to options for organising the gas system, and including both the role of the EU and specific countries.
"We explore and discuss the fundamentals of existing policy and regulation such as carbon pricing, the key role of electrification and hydrogen, the re-organisation of the gas system, and options to finance sector coupling", highlights Professor Michael Pollitt, one of the report's authors. "Our recommendations represent both disruption and adjustment but overall, the mass of changes needed to enable all technologies and markets to reach 2050 net zero is significant."
The outcomes of this report were debated on Tuesday 16 March, 9:30 CET, during a CERRE webinar "Reaching net zero: scenarios and regulation to rethink sector coupling".
REPORT | Electricity and gas coupling in a decarbonised economy
LEAFLET | Electricity and gas coupling in a decarbonised economy
PRESENTATION | Electricity and gas coupling in a decarbonised economy
David Reiner
University Senior Lecturer in Technology Policy
Judge Business School, University of Cambridge
David Reiner is University Senior Lecturer in Technology Policy at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge and Assistant Director of the Energy Policy Research Group (EPRG) at Cambridge.
His research focuses on energy and climate change politics, policy, economics, regulation and public attitudes, with a particular focus on the social license to operate for the options needed to reach net zero with a focus on hard-to-decarbonise sectors. He is currently leading projects on reducing emissions from energy-intensive industries, on decarbonising the heat via hydrogen and via electricity and on carbon dioxide removal options.
David has also served on various UK Government and European Commission expert panels. He is one of two academic members of the CCUS Council, which is chaired by the UK Energy Minister and is co-chair of the BEIS Oversight Panel on Public Perceptions of CCUS.
Carmen Li
Energy Policy Research Group (ERPG), University of Cambridge
Carmen Li is a Research Assistant in the Energy Policy Research Group (EPRG) at the University of Cambridge. She holds a MSci in Physics with Theoretical Physics from Imperial College London and a PhD in Mathematical Physics from the University of Edinburgh.
Prior to joining the EPRG she worked as a postdoc at the University of Warsaw and a data scientist in an ERDF-funded smart building energy management project at Lancaster University in collaboration with an energy start up.
Dhruvak Aggarwal
Energy Policy Research Group (EPRG), University of Cambridge
Dhruvak Aggarwal was a Research Assistant in the Energy Policy Research Group (EPRG) at the University of Cambridge. His research focussed on technological and regulatory feasibility of electricity and gas market coupling for energy system flexibility in the European Union, temporal arbitrage revenue for electricity storage in the UK, efficiency of wholesale gas markets, and technology adoption in traditional electricity distribution utilities.
Dhruvak holds a Master of Philosophy in Technology Policy from the University of Cambridge and a Bachelor of Technology in Mechatronics engineering from Manipal University Jaipur.
Rebecca Ly
Rebecca Ly is a Research Assistant in the Energy Policy Research Group (EPRG) at the University of Cambridge. She holds a Bachelor degree from the Toulouse School of Economics and a joint Master degree in Economics from Ecole Polytechnique.
Prior to EPRG, she was a Research Assistant at the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics where she worked on projects related to competition and market design in European electricity markets.
on #Energy & Sustainability
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