Research Centre for Environmental Economics (RCEE)
Research Center for Environmental Economics
Forschungszentrum für Umweltökonomik (FZU)
About
The Research Center for Environmental Economics (Forschungszentrum für Umweltökonomie, FZU) brings together a dynamic group of economists who all work on solving pressing problems situated at intersection of the natural environment and the economy. We use theory, empirical, and experimental methods for better understanding the challenges of sustainable resource management and to provide relevant policy recommendations. Use this webpage as a platform to stay tuned in on our work or to explore the various projects we are involved in, many of them interdisciplinary.
News
NEW PUBLICATIONS
The paper "Cooperation in public good games: Calculated or confused?" by Timo Goeschl and Hannes Lohse has just been published by the European Economic Review.
The RCEE is represented with two papers at the 2018 edition of the Science of Philantropy Initiative Conference, held at Indianapolis, Sept. 19-21. Carlo Gallier (ZEW) will present “Social distance, matching and inter-charity competition” (co-authors include Timo Goeschl) and Raphael Epperson (Mannheim) will present “Subsidizing Quantity Donations: Matches, Rebates, and Discounts Compared” (coauthors include Johannes Diederich and Timo Goeschl)
JOB OFFERS
STAFF NEWS
Dr. Tobias Pfrommer successfully defended his dissertation titled “Four Essays on the Law and Economics of Novel Technologies” on Sept. 10. Congratulations!
Timo Goeschl is currently Visiting Professor at the Toulouse School of Economics. As part of his sabbatical, Timo will be in Toulouse until Oct. 14, 2018.
Anca Balietti has accepted our offer of a Junior Professorship and will be joining us from the Harvard Kennedy School effective Dec. 1, 2018.
Alexander Dangel has joined the RCEE as doctoral student. Alex’ position is funded through the project COMPLIANCE that investigates the economics of monitoring, reporting, and verification of greenhouse gas emissions in the context of the Paris Accord. More information on this project sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research will be available soon.
FZU-ZEW EnvEcon MONTHLY BROWNBAG
The next FZU-ZEW Environmental Economics Monthly Brownbag Seminar is coming up
next Tuesday, October 16th, 12:30 to 14:00 hours
at the ZEW, room Hamburg, L7,1, 68161 Mannheim.
Title: Do Intermittent Renewables Threaten the Electricity Supply Security?*
Presenter: Mario Liebensteiner (TU Kaiserslautern)
Abstract: Around the globe, intermittent renewable energies in the form of wind and solar power are on the rise. This study tests if renewable energies replace conventional electricity generation technologies. We estimate a dynamic investment model for 14 European economies for the period 2002-2016 and find a non-negligible negative impact of intermittent renewables on investment in peak-load capacity (mainly gas), while base-load plants are unaffected. However, the production flexibility of thermal peak-load plants represents a particularly vital function to balance the supply intermittency of wind and solar. Thus, dispatchable conventional power plants are still necessary to back the system under scarcity events, such as unfavorable weather conditions during high electricity demand. In the long-run, the vast deployment of renewables creates a significant underinvestment gap in peak-load capacity. To prevent the risk of a blackout and to ensure a reliable supply of electricity, the need for policy intervention and a redesign of the current electricity markets seems inevitable.
* joint with Matthias Wrienz
Please find the abstract here.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
Upcoming seminar dates: November 20th (at ZEW, with Dana Kassam, U Mannheim) and December 18th (at FZU, with Wolfgang Habla, ZEW)
