Overview
The decarbonization of the economy, transport and buildings raises many fundamental questions of an economic nature that are of crucial importance for the future prosperity of our society. There is thus a great need for practical regulatory proposals that are both economically sound and independent of particular interests. These must minimize as far as possible the conflicting goals of economic efficiency on the one hand and security of supply, environmental compatibility and social solidarity on the other.
There is a new, rapidly growing need for action in the general pricing of various energy sources - first and foremost electricity, but also gas, for example. This goes beyond the need for a general pricing of the external (environmental) costs of energy supply. There is an increasing discrepancy with today's strategy of fixed, static end-user prices, in particular due to the variability of supply and demand for energy. This slows down the necessary innovations, which would enable an economically efficient and thus rapid and economically sustainable energy transition.
This is where the project comes in. It develops feasible proposals for a comprehensive, true-cost pricing, analyzes its consequences and the opportunities that result from it for the different actors. At the relevant points, centralized and decentralized producers, consumers, prosumers and transporters of energy are to be exposed to fair and socially beneficial incentives. Thus, in an integrative approach, they will be empowered to actively participate through appropriate investments and adapted behavior, where it is both financially attractive and socially desirable; a win-win for all involved.