Suchergebnisse

Transitioning German road transport partially to hydrogen energy is among the possibilities being discussed to help meet national climate targets. This study investigates impacts of a hypothetical, complete transition from conventionally-fueled to hydrogen-powered German transport through representative scenarios. Our results show that German emissions change between −179 and +95 MtCO2eq annually, depending on the scenario, with renewable-powered electrolysis leading to the greatest emissions reduction, while electrolysis using the fossil-intense current electricity mix leads to the greatest increase. German energy emissions of regulated pollutants decrease significantly, indicating the potential for simultaneous air quality improvements. Vehicular hydrogen demand is 1000 PJ annually, requiring 446–525 TWh for electrolysis, hydrogen transport and storage, which could be supplied by future German renewable generation, supporting the potential for CO2-free hydrogen traffic and increased energy security. Thus hydrogen-powered transport could contribute significantly to climate and air quality goals, warranting further research and political discussion about this possibility.

People living or working in the Arctic are faced with uncertainty regarding future social, political, economic, and environmental change. This uncertainty is due not least to the on-going transformations caused by climate change. This paper presents resultsfrom a project entitled "Yamal 2040: Scenarios for the Russian Arctic", which employed 'Strategic Fore-sight', a specific co-design and engagement methodology, to support stakeholders of one particular region in the Arctic, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Yamal region) in Western Siberia, Russia. It was the project's objective to respond to this situation of general uncertainty, to develop forward-looking scenarios to better understand the risks and oppor-tunities associated with future transformations inthe Arctic. The findings presented here may be of interest for stakeholders in other parts of the Arctic and Russia that depend on the exploitation of fossil fuels and/or are facing complex and uncertain situations.Three future scenarios were developed together with stakeholders at a series of workshops. The scenarios take into account climate projections as well as possible environmental, so-cial and cultural concerns, economic opportunities, and political and legal developments. Representatives of different stakeholder groups (Indigenous Peoples Organizations, and en-vironmental NGOs, local communities, Yamal industry, the media etc.) were involved from the beginning of the project and acted as co-authors of the elaborate scenarios.The scenarios envisiondifferent futures for the region. In one of them, Yamal's petroleum business is shrinking as a result of theglobal energy transition. In another scenario, Yamal's gas industry is booming because gas is viewed worldwide as a "transition fuel". In two scenarios, Yamal experiences severe consequences of climate change, such as rain-on-snow events, or anthrax outbreaks and mercury releases out of thawing permafrost, which create life-threatening challenges for Indigenous communities. In contrast, the third ...

People living or working in the Arctic are faced with uncertainty regarding future social, political, economic, and environmental change. This uncertainty is due not least to the ongoing transformations caused by climate change. This paper presents results from a project entitled "Yamal 2040: Scenarios for the Russian Arctic", which employed 'Strategic Foresight', a specific co-design and engagement methodology, to support stakeholders of one particular region in the Arctic, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Yamal region) in Western Siberia, Russia. It was the project's objective to respond to this situation of general uncertainty, to develop forward-looking scenarios to better understand the risks and opportunities associated with future transformations in the Arctic. The findings presented here may be of interest for stakeholders in other parts of the Arctic and Russia that depend on the exploitation of fossil fuels and/or are facing complex and uncertain situations.