Emerging Groups
ET-CC: Energy Transition and Climate Change
Climate change is the primary driver for the transition from carbon-based energy consumption to renewable energy use. Renewable energy resource assessment under changing climatic conditions and reliable forecasts for solar/wind power on a variety of temporal (hours to decades) and spatial scales (local to continental) are highly important for the energy industry. The Emerging Group on Energy Transition and Climate Change (ET-CC) integrates the expertise and facilities of the participating research institutions across a wide spectrum of disciplines, including atmospheric science, energy economics and law, and advanced scientific computing. Specific objectives of the project are
1) to develop the capacity of high-resolution renewable energy prediction through integration of sophisticated atmospheric modelling and monitoring;
2) to integrate climate and renewable-energy models and data with energy-economic models for energy economic applications and policy development
In order to reach Objective 1 new cloud parameterizations will be developed, profiting from the unprecedented facilities established within the DFG Collaborative Research Center (CRC) TR32 that includes the Jülich Observatory for Cloud Evolution (JOYCE). The Centre for High-Performance Scientific Computing in Terrestrial System (HPSC TerrSys) and the expertise in terrestrial systems and atmospheric chemistry create major opportunities to advance cloud research. We will propose new concepts by combining cloud monitoring and simulation at high resolutions to facilitate the development of cloud schemes for use in climate models and solar power forecasts. Objective 2 involves future economic projections of energy supply and demand at decadal scales, and relies on predictions of future climate change. The forecast skill of energy economics models will be increased by coupling to state-of-the-art weather/climate models.
The Emerging Group will develop a research focus on ET-CC, but also enhance the UoC’s training capacity for students to work in energy transition, both nationally and internationally. Many students from IGM and EWI find employment in the energy sector. Real-time monitoring tools for solar and wind modelling will be made accessible online to foster outreach activities.
Förderperiode: 01.11.2014 - 31.10.2019