Ariadne II

The Ariadne II project explores transition pathways of the German energy system, economy and society as a whole to reach German and European climate goals. Climate targets alone do not guarantee success; specific measures are needed to achieve them. This is where the project starts, finding ways through the complex and detailed questions of the energy transition. Ariadne explores energy transition strategies and their systemic effects, as well as sectoral interactions, and investigates how policy instruments can achieve climate goals in an efficient and socially balanced way. The project also researches the governance and institutions needed to design effective climate protection. The project specifically addresses decision-making problems in politics, but also initiates debates with politicians, stakeholders and citizens. After all, the energy transition can only succeed through a joint learning process. To better understand the impact of different policy instruments, and develop socially sustainable strategies, representatives from politics and business – as well as from the general public – are actively involved in the Ariadne project from the very beginning.

In this way, Ariadne develops target-oriented measures and policy options. Findings and results are provided throughout the project, for example in policy briefs, thematic dossiers, background papers, visualizations and interactive applications.

The project contributions of the Technology Assessment group are centered around the collaboration with PIK in the areas of prospective environmental Life Cycle Assessment, external costs, energy and integrated assessment modeling. Within this integrated framework, demand for critical raw materials of the European Union and Germany and associated supply chains are evaluated for a broad range of transition scenarios as securing sufficient supply of critical raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, and iridium might be among the main challenges in the context of phasing out fossil fuels.