Working Group Energy Transition (WGET)

Providing sufficient energy while minimizing climate impacts has become an essential challenge for our society. At the Austrian Academy of Sciences, a working group has formed to explore the situation in Austria and Europe regarding pathways of a sustainable energy transition. The working group has been inviting top experts to provide their opinions and views on multiple different aspects – from energy provision, transport, and storage to energy services, decent living and social innovation related to energy. The views expressed by experts in dedicated internal lectures will be compiled into a report and made available to policymakers, the public and the Climate and Clean Air Commission as well as the Commission of Interdisciplinary Ecological Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences fur further scientific assessment. A public event to introduce this report is planned for late 2022.

One important motivation for this work was a public keynote lecture held at the Academy by Georg Brasseur (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weI_ga3TYoI, in German). The context of the climate crisis as laid open in the recent IPCC reports (www.ipcc.ch) and the political response in form of the European Green Deal (https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en) demand treatment at highest scientific standards to provide well-founded responses to the society.

Viktor J. Bruckman  (coordination & contact, KIOES)

• Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), Commission for Interdisciplinary Ecological Studies (KIOES), Commission for Geosciences (GEOK)
• European Geosciences Union (EGU), Division Energy, Resources, and the Environment (ERE)

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Wilfried Winiwarter  (coordination & contact, KKL)

• International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE)
• Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), Climate and Air Quality Commission (KKL)

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Georg Brasseur

• Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW)
• Technical University of Graz (TU Graz), Institute of Electrical Measurement and Sensor Systems

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Karlheinz Erb (KIOES)

• University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Institute of Social Ecology (SEC)

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Simone Gingrich (KIOES)

• University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Institute of Social Ecology (SEC)

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Helmut Haberl

• University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Institute of Social Ecology (SEC)

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Robert Jandl (KKL)

• Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW), Forest Ecology and Soil – Climate Impact Research

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Hanns Moshammer (KKL)

• Medical University of Vienna (MUW), Department of Environmental Health

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Ilona Otto

• University of Graz, Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change

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Lucy Pao

• University of Colorado Boulder, College of Engineering and Applied Science

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Keywan Riahi

• International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Energy, Climate, and Environment Program (ECE)

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Sigrid Stagl (KIOES)

• Vienna University of Economics and Business, Institute for Ecological Economics

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Karl Steininger (KKL)

• University of Graz, Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change

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