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December 2019

ERC Conference

ERC Conference. Frontier Research: Creating Pathways to Sustainability

On 2-3 December 2019, the European Research Council organized its annual conference, this time entitled: Frontier Research: Creating Pathways to Sustainability.
The aim of the conference was to show the interdisciplinary work carried out by the ERC-funded researchers around the concept of “sustainability”. Among the topics that were discussed, the ERC highlighted the relevance of those research lines that help identify ways to achieve “Affordable and Clean Energy”. Demand for energy is increasing, and substantial investments are needed in innovative clean energy production and storage that can replace fossil fuels. There is a need for developing a broader portfolio of cost-effective renewable energy sources and technologies, including new solutions for energy storage, and innovative techniques for thermal insulation. At the same time, institutional and market design innovation is needed in order to create efficient carbon-free power markets.
Natalia Fabra, head of EnergyEcoLab, presented the main ongoing results of her ERC project ELECTRIC CHALLENGES. It was very inspiring to also listen to other researchers pushing in the same direction from very different angles. Prof. Giulia Grancini presented her project HY-NANO in which she aims to improve the efficiency of solar energy. Prof. Ballottari described his SOLENALGAE project on how microalgal cultures can be used as a source of renewable energy, via improving their photosynthetic solar energy conversion into chemical energy. Prof. Papakonstantinou presented his work in the project IntelGlazing which develops new technologies to reduce the level of heat-exchange through windows, thereby reducing the energy needed for regulating the temperature of buildings.
The whole video of the session can be seen here
Natalia Fabra’s lecture starts on min 9:42:40.
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Debate on Ecological Economics organized by UC3M’s student association

The UC3M’s student association DEMOS organized a debate about Ecological Economics, open to the university community. Natalia Fabra, head of EnergyEcoLab, and Juan López de Uralde, ex-director of Greenpeace Spain and current Member of the Spanish Parliament, debated about the policies that need to be put in place in order to combat climate change. They stressed the need and urgency of climate action, which will entail economic, social and environmental benefits exceeding the costs of no action. Climate and energy policies need to take into account the distributional impacts, and compensate the negative impacts where needed. It is paramount that policy making is independent of lobby groups, which might delay policy implementation or distort it away of the common interest. They both acknowledged the effort of DEMOS and other associations, as they are key in mobilizing society and politics towards more ambitious climate action.

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Energy Economics Workshop at UC3M in January 2020

EnergyEcoLab will host a one-day workshop on energy economics on January 28, 2020, at the  Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. We will have presentations and discussions about electricity markets and regulations on transport with a mix of applied theory and empirical papers.

Below is the list of presentations:

  • Estelle Cantillon (ULB): “What is price discovery achieving in the New Zealand electricity market?” (with Stefan Bergheimer and Mar Reguant)
  • François Salanié (TSE and INRA): “Tipping points, delays, and the control of catastrophes” (with Matti Liski)
  • Natalia Fabra (UC3M and CEPR): “Technology Neutral versus Technology Specific Regulation” (with Juan Pablo Montero)
  • Knut Einar Rosendahl (Norwegian University of Life Sciences): “Electricity versus hydrogen in the road transport market”
  • Stefan Lamp (TSE): “(Mis)allocation of Renewable Energy Sources” (with Mario Samano)
  • Imelda (UC3M): “Price Exposure and Market Power: Learning from Changes in Renewables´ Regulation” (with Natalia Fabra)
  • David Andrés (EUI): “Storing Power: Market Structure Matters” (with Natalia Fabra)
  • Mathias Reynaert (TSE): “Vehicle taxes’ disparate impact on domestic production: an efficient tool to favor?”

*Participation is by invitation only.

Program link.