Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI

Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI

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Efficiency unleashed: evolution and impact of Germany's funding scheme for energy and resource efficiency in the economy

( 2024)
Neusel, Lisa
;
Hirzel, Simon
;
Weinert, Karsten
;
Heinrich, Stephan
;
Grodeke, Anna-Maria

The Federal Funding Scheme for Energy and Resource Effi ciency in the Economy (EEE) is the central public funding programme for addressing energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in German companies. In 2023, it exceeded a funding volume of 1 billion euros for the first time. The multi-measure scheme consists of several modules. In its original setup, it covered support for investments 1) energy-efficient cross-cutting technologies, 2) process heat from renewable energies, 3) measurement and control equip ment, sensors and energy management software and 4) en ergy and later also resource optimizations of plants and pro cesses. Recently, two new modules have been added, focusing on 5) transformation concepts and 6) electrification in micro and small enterprises. On the one hand, the paper aims to examine key performance indicators from the four evaluation rounds since 2019 in order to review the target achievement, effectiveness and economic efficiency of the EEE’s measures. Overall, the programme as a whole has achieved gross GHG emissions savings of a good 4.8 million tonnes of CO2 since its introduction until the end of 2022. On the other hand, the pa per illustrates the evolution of the EEE over the last five years in order to derive exemplary implications for the evaluation of (other) dynamic funding schemes. The results suggest, among other things, that it is important to distinguish major structural breaks, such as changes in funding directives during the year or new funding objects, at an early stage in order to prepare for them in an ongoing evaluation. Consequently, it is advisable for policy-makers to be aware that a redesign of a funding programme may also have substantial repercus sions on its evaluation.
Assessing the environmental impacts of policies on industrial electric motors: a stock model, material flow analysis and life cycle assessment approach

( 2024)
Durand, Antoine
;
Barkhausen, Robin

Electric motors are significant contributors to energy consump tion in the EU, accounting for more than half of the total elec tricity consumed. In order to reduce the environmental impact, there is a need to address the inefficiency of existing motors. This study explores how early replacement of inefficient motors can reduce environmental impacts at the system level and com pares this strategy with a base case. A combined material flow analysis and life cycle assessment approach is used to provide answers. Using a layered approach, material and environmen tal impacts are derived from product flows through a product database that defines physical properties for different product variants. The study focuses on industrial electric motors in the EU and employs a scenario analysis from 2005 to 2050 to as sess the long-term impacts of different policy alternatives. Spe cifically, the environmental impacts of early replacement of IE2 and IE3 motors with IE4 motors are compared to minimum energy performance standards and to a base case scenario with no change. This comparative analysis aims to highlight the po tential environmental benefits of implementing different policy measures beyond mere energy savings. The results of this study have implications for sustainability and energy efficiency poli cies in the EU. By understanding the environmental impacts of different policy measures on industrial electric motors, policy makers and industry stakeholders can make informed deci sions to promote sustainable practices and reduce energy con sumption in the long term.
From scenarios to action - developing science based financing guidelines

( 2024)
Aydemir, Ali
;
Rohde, Clemens
;
Wilhelm, Maike
;
Fritz, Markus
;
Engstfeld, Stefanie
;
Lutz, Sandra

In recent years, financial institutions and their role in the transition towards global emission reduction targets have gained attention in the climate change debate. Initiatives like the energy efficiency finance institutions group (EEFIG) have highlighted the importance of financial institutions. The concrete operationalisation of this topic is however a major challenge. In our paper we will present the approach chosen by the German Development Bank (KfW), which was assisted by the authors in crafting a comprehensive and compatible strategy aligning with the Paris Agreement for KfW as part of its transition process. Based primarily on IEA’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario, financing guidelines for various sectors have been developed, which regulate new financing by the bank. These guidelines mainly use technical criteria for the individual financing to ensure that they are in line with a 1,5°C compatible transition pathway. As the guidelines consider the lifetime of the assets and not only the financing lifetime, the requirements in the sectors are ambitious and require the bank not to finance certain technologies at all. In our contribution, we present the underlying system of the KfW guidelines and provide an overview of currently implemented guidelines. Finally, we discuss the approach chosen in context to possible other approaches. KfW’s experience in implementing financing guidelines with a more focused technological approach demonstrates how guidelines can be developed to align with Paris Agreement objectives in the future. The approach differs from other efforts that typically take the form of either standardized frameworks or monitoring activities.
HyperPIE: Hyperparameter Information Extraction from Scientific Publications

( 2024)
Saier, Tarek
;
Ohta, Mayumi
;
Asakura, Takuto
;
Färber, Michael

Automatic extraction of information from publications is key to making scientific knowledge machine-readable at a large scale. The extracted information can, for example, facilitate academic search, decision making, and knowledge graph construction. An important type of information not covered by existing approaches is hyperparameters. In this paper, we formalize and tackle hyperparameter information extraction (HyperPIE) as an entity recognition and relation extraction task. We create a labeled data set covering publications from a variety of computer science disciplines. Using this data set, we train and evaluate BERT-based fine-tuned models as well as five large language models: GPT-3.5, GALACTICA, Falcon, Vicuna, and WizardLM. For fine-tuned models, we develop a relation extraction approach that achieves an improvement of 29% F1 over a state-of-the-art baseline. For large language models, we develop an approach leveraging YAML output for structured data extraction, which achieves an average improvement of 5.5% F1. in entity recognition over using JSON. With our best performing model we extract hyperparameter information from a large number of unannotated papers, and analyze patterns across disciplines.
Greening the drive: unpacking the impact and equity aspects of Germany's EV subsidy programme

( 2024)
Rao, Swaroop
;
Blauert, Marc
;
Schlomann, Barbara
;
Stede, Jan
;
Schaper, Julian

Public subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles (EVs) have been introduced in various countries as a means of incentivis ing consumers to shift away from fossil-fuel powered personal transport. In Germany, as in many other European countries, the shift towards E-Mobility has gained particular attention due to the transport sector’s increasing need to decarbonise for the country to meet national and European climate neutrality tar gets. In this paper, we use data from the country’s national EV subsidy programme (the Umweltbonus) and a survey of the re cipients of the subsidy to determine the free rider, rebound, and spillover effects, which have become indispensable to consider in the design and evaluation of contemporary energy policy. In addition, the distributive aspects of the subsidy programme are analysed, notably concerning income and regional inequalities. Our study suggests that there might be substantial inequalities in terms of the demographics of the recipients of the subsidy, whereas the rebound effects are smaller than what the literature might suggest. Future efforts to promote EV adoption might benefit if the corresponding subsidy programmes are better targeted towards recipients from economically disadvantaged groups and regions. The insights from this study contribute to the growing literature on the effectiveness of EV subsidy pro grammes using observed microdata as well as stated data. In addition, concrete lessons such as about the distributive effects of the policy can be gathered from this experience in Germany that might find application in transport policy in other juris dictions. Further redesign of the subsidy should also consider including a corresponding disincentive for buyers to buy fossil fuel driven cars, in addition to a subsidy towards EVs, which might increase distributional fairness as well as be more neutral towards the burden on state finances.
A measure of control: about sensors, measurement and control equipment in German companies

( 2024)
Hirzel, Simon
;
Berger, Carmen
;
Neusel, Lisa

Taking stock of energy flows is central for energy management activities within companies: It is needed to identify the most appropriate energy efficiency measures, to implement them and to monitor their impact. While the use of sensors, monitoring and control equipment helps to enhance transparency, few studies seem to provide empirical data about the use of these technologies and about the expectations for achievable energy savings across a larger sample of companies. Against this background, this paper aims to broaden the understanding of the use of measurement infrastructure and control technologies for enhancing energy efficiency within industrial companies based on a sample of German companies. The insights in this paper use survey results obtained from companies participating in a national funding programme for sensors, measurement and control equipment. The analysis covers, among others, the expected savings associated with measurement infrastructure and control technology, how companies monitor energy flows and how they make use of this information. While the selection of companies is not representative and limitations apply, the results seem to underline that there are various ways how energy-related measurement infrastructure and control technologies are used and implemented in practice. Among others, the companies in the sample seem to monitor electricity more often than thermal or other properties, they have largely left the pen-and-paper era for data acquisition and data is kept in in-house storage systems. The assessment of data appears still seems to include a substantial amount of handiwork and AI based automation was still rare at the time of conducting the survey. In general, expected triggered savings vary but tend to be in a range of 2 to 5 % of the covered energy demand.
Fostering energy efficiency investments in SMEs: the multiple benefits approach for energy audits and energy management systems

( 2024)
Sangiorgio, Ivan
;
Fragidis, Garyfallos
;
Rogulj, Ivana
;
Durand, Antoine

Investments in energy efficiency projects in SMEs face obstacles due to the perception of their limited relevance to business pri orities and are often disregarded in favor of other investments with superior economic performance. Including the evaluation of Multiple Benefits (MBs) in the company's decision-making process has proven to enhance the uptake of energy efficiency measures. The DEESME project, co-funded under the Horizon 2020 Programme, has the primary objective of creating a con nection between energy efficiency investments and the com pany’s core business priorities. This paper aims to present the methodology developed in the project and the results stemming from its application. The methodology consists of the incorporation of the MBs ap proach into both energy auditing and Energy Management Systems (EnMS). This paper aims to present the methodol ogy developed in the project and the results stemming from its application. The methodology consists of the incorporation of the MBs approach into both energy auditing and Energy Management Systems (EnMS). The MBs approach for audits is structured in a four-stage methodology. This involves ana lysing the business model for value and efficiency, identifying opportunities for emission reduction through energy analysis, conducting a multiple benefits analysis to link energy deci sions to business development, and advancing business model sustainability. Simultaneously, the EnMS methodology, fed by inputs derived from extended energy audits, seeks to un derscore the correlation between the MBs approach and ISO 50001 certification. Emphasis is placed on integrating the MBs approach into every aspect of the standard. These methodolo gies have been successfully applied to SMEs in Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, and Germany. The presented paper is based on the in sights gained from 42 audits and 22 EnMS implementations, all incorporating the MBs approach, contributed to gathering valuable lessons learnt and best practices.
Implementing the energy efficiency first principle in European regions: insights from the REGIO1st Planning Framework

( 2024)
Mandel, Tim
;
Konstantopoulos, George
;
Stavrakaki, Andriana
;
Yu, Songmin
;
Oikonomou, Vlasios

The energy efficiency first (EE1 st) principle is a key element of the recast Energy Efficiency Directive that emphasises the prioritisation of energy efficiency measures in all energy planning and investment decisions. However, regional authorities often face challenges in putting the EE1 st principle into practice, integrating it into regional energy strategies and balancing it with other energy-related needs. To address these challenges, the REGIO1st project, co-funded by the LIFE programme, focuses on raising awareness of the EE1 st principle among regional governments and their agencies, and providing them with the necessary tools and guidance to integrate this principle into their energy planning and decision-making processes. A key feature of the project is the development of the REGIO1st Planning Framework. This framework is a comprehensive toolkit for integrating the EE1 st principle into regional energy planning. It outlines a structured approach with different stages, each equipped with specific Excel and text-based tools. These tools facilitate data collection, stakeholder engagement, cost-benefit and multi-criteria analysis, ensuring a comprehensive planning process. The framework and its tools will be made available online in the first quarter of 2024, ensuring easy accessibility and usability. Currently, the REGIO1st Planning Framework is being applied in six European pilot regions. The pilots not only test the usefulness of the framework, but also adapt it to different regional contexts, demonstrating its versatility and effectiveness in practice. This paper introduces the REGIO1st Planning Framework, exploring its purpose, methodological foundations, structure and the variety of practical tools it offers. It also discusses its current application in pilot regions, highlighting how it supports regional authorities in integrating the EE1 st principle into their regional energy strategies.
Taking a closer look at technical energy efficiency potentials using an integrated bottom up and top-down model for the German tertiary sector: results and calibration issues

( 2024)
Arnold-Keifer, Sonja
;
Hirzel, Simon
;
Rohde, Clemens

Germany’s tertiary sector accounts for 15 % of the country’s total energy consumption. To achieve international climate goals, greenhouse gas savings must be achieved in all sectors including the tertiary one. Energy efficiency remains particu larly important for this. Identifying energy efficiency poten tials helps to show how processes, products and services can be made more energy efficient and thus save energy. Different energy efficiency potentials can be achieved through techni cal and economic energy saving opportunities. Although there have been studies on energy efficiency potentials in the past, the tertiary sector with its sectoral aggregate is still a lit tle considered area. For this purpose, different specific energy applications of the German tertiary sector are analysed in this paper using an integrated bottom-up and top-down approach. One key factor here is the required calibration of the calculated bottom-up values to the top-down data. This paper aims to contribute to a more detailed knowledge of the special char acteristics of the calibration and to the different methodologi cal approaches to include technical energy efficiency measures to the top-down and bottom-up model. This yields insights into future energy saving potentials but also underlines how dependent energy efficiency potential calculations can be on the input data and methodological choice. Depending on the savings potential, the assessment may vary according to the method used. It is therefore important to understand how the calculation works.
In-Memory SAT-Solver for Self-Verification of Programmable Memristive Architectures

( 2024)
Shirinzadeh, Fatemeh
;
Deb, Arighna
;
Shirinzadeh, Saeideh
;
Kole, Abhoy
;
Datta, Kamalika
;
Drechsler, Rolf

Formal verification of programmable memristive architectures utilizing emerging nonvolatile memory technologies such as Resistive Random-Access Memory (RRAM) has only been recently addressed by a few works at the software level. In this paper we propose an in-memory SAT solver utilizing inherent analog features of RRAM that enables formal verification of arbitrary designs within resistive crossbars. More importantly, this allows self-verification of in-memory implementations as the correctness of designs can be dynamically checked. Additionally, the required architecture is presented, along with a complexity analysis for latency and hardware overheads

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