Pathways to greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050

The final report of the DIPOL project presents a series of scenarios combining the perspectives of different actors to achieve the German and European climate goals. They show a range of possible development paths for Europe and Germany.

The scenarios examine the influence of three key dimensions of transformation: "technological availability", "policy coordination" and "behavioural change".

• The dimension "technological availability" describes the impact of restrictions on certain technologies with insufficient or limited societal acceptance, such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), bioenergy, wind energy or nuclear power.
• The dimension "policy coordination" examines the differences between a market-based approach, which is mainly based on the pricing of greenhouse gases, and a sectoral approach, which combines the pricing of greenhouse gases with targeted supportive sectoral measures such as subsidies for electric cars, precision agriculture or hydrogen production, but also bans on oil heating or new registrations of combustion engines.
• The dimension "behavioural change" shows the consequences of lifestyle changes towards lower energy demand and changed dietary habits.