Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI

The 18th report on “The State of Renewable Energies in Europe” highlights the dynamic growth of renewable energies in the heating sector – especially heat pumps. The 2018 edition also reveals an increase in the total share of renewable energies from 17% in 2016 to 17.5% in 2017.

The Association négaWatt (Paris) has gathered partners to work on the development of a long term European energy transition scenario. The Fraunhofer ISI will support this network by providing expert consultation to partnering organization on their own energy demand models, focusing on the implementation of sufficiency considerations therein.

The 2018 openness indicator, which was compiled by Fraunhofer ISI together with the ZEW as part of the 2018 Innovation Indicator, assesses the openness of 35 national economies. China is only ranked 35th; Germany ends up in 21st place. China’s lack of openness is also a key topic at the EU-China Summit on 9 April.

A new study by Fraunhofer ISI looks at broadband/fiber-optic rollout in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Alongside the experiences made so far, it also examines the question of how to accelerate the rollout of a gigabit network in the federal state. According to the study, current developments are heading in the right direction; this has to do with Baden-Wuerttemberg’s specific operator model. However, realizing the innovation effects of a state-wide gigabit infrastructure requires concerted action and a commitment to “fiber-optic only” on the part of all the stakeholders involved.

On behalf of the EU Commission, Fraunhofer ISI explored what contribution individual technologies can make to decarbonizing industry and how to support them. The study shows that it is possible to cut emissions by 95% by 2050.

Up to 28 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a top-range diesel; up to 42 percent fewer than a small gasoline car: Whoever buys and uses a battery-powered electric car in Germany today emits much less CO2 and other greenhouse gases over an average useful life of 13 years than a car with a conventional internal combustion engine. This is the result of a study by Fraunhofer ISI on the carbon footprint of electric cars.