This research on renewable and sustainable energy covers the regulation of energy markets and technologies, and the design of policy instruments for the energy transition, such as carbon taxes.
Below an overview
Individuals and citizen collectives often face significant information, coordination, and transaction costs which slows down the energy transition process in residential structures. At the same time, policymakers are expected to coordinate a complicated process that determines the overall effectiveness of the new energy system and the cost of decarbonization. ALIGN4energy aims to address both challenges by (1) mapping citizens’ preferences and investment barriers in a transdisciplinary manner (2) modelling how certain investments will affect the efficiency of the entire energy system; (3) creating adaptive digital decision-support modules for citizens and policymakers that optimize investments at the individual and energy system levels while also providing users with customized information and planning; and (4) co-developing and systematically field- testing participation mechanisms, citizen engagement tactics, and behavioural interventions to encourage investments.
Project website: www.align4energy.nl
Contact information: Dr Sanchayan Banerjee, Dr Julia Blash, Prof. Wouter Botzen, Prof. Pieter van Beukering, Dr Madeline Werthschulte, Floris van Montfoort, MSc, Marjan Nikoloski, MSc, Kevin Goes, MSc and Louison Thépaut, MSc
Energising Development (EnDev) is a donor funded programme that delivers permanent access to modern energy technologies and services. IVM is conducting a real-time evaluation of this programme on the basis of the OECD-DAC criteria, and provides a strategic evaluation of the programme’s contribution to sector transitions in the 20 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America in which EnDev’s projects take place.
Project website: https://endev.info/
Contact information: Dr Marije Schaafsma and Prof. Pieter van Beukering
Extreme weather and salinisation put pressure on freshwater availability in delta areas. A robust freshwater system is necessary for agriculture, industry, nature, and tourism, thus ensuring a livable delta. Technical solutions have already been successfully tested on a pilot scale, but there are still a number of challenges to implementation, such as a lack of appropriate policy instruments, legal policy frameworks, financial and economic incentives, and an administrative partnership for managing freshwater supply and demand. STURDI-Water aims to achieve integrated freshwater management through a central, regional water bank to match supply and demand, storage and circular water treatment.
For more information, please visit the NWO-project site (in Dutch).
Contact information: Prof. Roy Brouwer and Dr Jan Brusselaers
This project, funded under Horizon Europe, will investigate endocrine-disrupting chemicals as contributors to progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. IVM is responsible for characterising patient profiles, assessing public awareness and willingness to change lifestyles or behavioural patterns leading to this disease, and test different risk communication strategies to instigate behavioural change.
Contact information: Prof. Roy Brouwer and Dr Marije Schaafsma
Cleaning marine Litter by developing and Applying Innovative Methods (CLAIM) is an EU Horizon 2020 project whose remit is to find new ways of tackling pollution in marine areas, with a specific focus on the Mediterranean and the Baltic Seas.
With millions of tons of plastic litter dumped into marine environments, marine litter increased twenty-fold in the last 50 years, according to CLAIM. Now a widely known environmental issue, plastic litter has been detected worldwide in all major marine habitats, in sizes from microns to meters.
IVM is leading a work package in CLAIM with a focus on the social and economic implications of the new technologies being developed. This work package involves cost effectiveness analysis, legal and policy frameworks, stakeholder acceptance and public preferences, and novel business models. This research will culminate in an integrated assessment of environmental, social and economic impacts of CLAIM technologies. IVM has a team of four researchers working on CLAIM.
Contact information: Dr Jan Brusselaers, Prof. Roy Brouwer and Prof. Pieter van Beukering.
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