TrafoKommunE – Transformation process for municipal energy transformation – sector-coupled infrastructures and strategies for involving local actors

  • Project team:

    Stelzer, Volker (Project leader); Eva Wendeberg

  • Funding:

    Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi)

  • Start date:

    2020

  • End date:

    2023

  • Project partners:

    KIT-IEH, KIT-FAST, KIT-IAI, KIT-IIP, DVGW-Forschungsstelle at the KIT Engler-Bunte-Institut (DVGW-EBI), Gas- und Wärmeinstitut Essen (GWI), Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI), Institute for Resource Efficiency and Energy Strategies (IREES), MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, Stadtwerke Karlsruhe GmbH (SWKA)

  • Research group:

    Karlsruhe Transformation Center for Sustainability and Cultural Change

Project description

In order to prevent the worst negative impacts of global warming, it is fundamental to implement the necessary measures in all sectors as quickly as possible.

Previous considerations on the energy transformation from the old to the new energy world do not go far enough. They mainly focus on improving the efficiency of application, the production of energy from renewable sources, and measures to distribute renewable electricity or to parallel consumption with production. This consideration of individual solutions is not sufficient to achieve the desired goals fast enough.

Thus, on the one hand, user behavior and the acceptance of measures for implementing the energy transformation are of great importance. On the other hand, various utilization technologies and infrastructures have to be combined, which can be done quickly and cost-efficiently, in particular through sector-coupling measures. Local politics and municipal utilities/energy providers play a central role in this filed.

Within the framework of the planned joint project, technical and strategic recommendations for action will be provided for municipal utilities and distribution system operators. For this purpose, universal measures for the conversion (transformation paths) and coupling of energy infrastructures (electricity, heat, gas, and mobility) will be developed for rural and urban areas based on scenarios.

Another aim of this project is the development of strategies to improve the transfer of results from research into practice.

To this end, ITAS is primarily examining the role of society in the energy transformation. ITAS contributes to the projects with its many years of experience with the multi-award winning, internationally recognized real-world labs “District Future – Urban Lab” and “Urban Transition Lab 131” operated in Karlsruhe. It also provides support with its expertise in energy systems analysis, the development of energy scenarios, sustainability assessment in the energy sector, and with participation formats in the energy sector (https://www.dialog-energie.de).

Contact

Dr. Volker Stelzer
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS)
P.O. Box 3640
76021 Karlsruhe
Germany

Tel.: +49 721 608-23474
E-mail