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Mr. Weigel holds a diploma in mechanical engineering in the field of energy and process engineering from the Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany. Parts of his studies he conducted at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics in Beijing, China, and the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Before starting as a postgraduate at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute of Environmental Process Engineering and Plant Design, and the Wuppertal Institute in Germany, Mr. Weigel worked for the internal strategy and management consultancy of the E.ON Group, one of Europe’s leading privately-owned utilities.
The development of digital technologies is accelerating, enabling increasingly profound changes in increasingly short time periods. The changes affect almost all areas of the economy as well as society. The energy sector has already seen some effects of digitalization, but more drastic changes are expected in the next decades. Besides the very positive impacts on costs, system stability, and environmental effects, potential obstacles and risks need to be addressed to ensure that advantages can be exploited while adverse effects are avoided. A good understanding of available and future digital applications from different stakeholders’ perspectives is necessary. This study proposes a framework for the holistic evaluation of digital applications in the energy sector. The framework consists of a combination of well-established methods, namely the multi-criteria analysis (MCA), the life cycle assessment (LCA), and expert interviews. The objective is to create transparency on benefits, obstacles, and risks as a basis for societal and political discussions and to supply the necessary information for the sustainable development and implementation of digital applications. The novelty of the proposed framework is the specific combination of the three methods and its setup to enable sound applicability to the wide variety of digital applications in the energy sector. The framework is tested subsequently on the example of the German smart meter roll-out. The results reveal that, on the one hand, the smart meter roll-out clearly offers the potential to increase the system stability and decrease the carbon emission intensity of the energy system. Therefore, the overall evaluation from an environmental perspective is positive. However, on the other hand, close attention needs to be paid to the required implementation and operational effort, the IT (information technology) and data security, the added value for the user, the social acceptance, and the realization of energy savings. Therefore, the energy utility perspective in particular results in an overall negative evaluation. Several areas with a need for action are identified. Overall, the proposed framework proves to be suitable for the holistic evaluation of this digital application.
Paul Weigel; Manfred Fischedick; Peter Viebahn. Holistic Evaluation of Digital Applications in the Energy Sector—Evaluation Framework Development and Application to the Use Case Smart Meter Roll-Out. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6834 .
AMA StylePaul Weigel, Manfred Fischedick, Peter Viebahn. Holistic Evaluation of Digital Applications in the Energy Sector—Evaluation Framework Development and Application to the Use Case Smart Meter Roll-Out. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (12):6834.
Chicago/Turabian StylePaul Weigel; Manfred Fischedick; Peter Viebahn. 2021. "Holistic Evaluation of Digital Applications in the Energy Sector—Evaluation Framework Development and Application to the Use Case Smart Meter Roll-Out." Sustainability 13, no. 12: 6834.
Digitalization is a transformation process which has already affected many parts of industry and society and is expected to yet increase its transformative speed and impact. In the energy sector, many digital applications have already been implemented. However, a more drastic change is expected during the next decades. Good understanding of which digital applications are possible and what are the associated benefits as well as risks from the different perspectives of the impacted stakeholders is of high importance. On the one hand, it is the basis for a broad societal and political discussion about general targets and guidelines of digitalization. On the other hand, it is an important piece of information for companies in order to develop and sustainably implement digital applications. This article provides a structured overview of potential digital applications in the German energy (electricity) sector, including the associated benefits and the impacted stakeholders on the basis of a literature review. Furthermore, as an outlook, a methodology to holistically analyze digital applications is suggested. The intended purpose of the suggested methodology is to provide a complexity-reduced fact base as input for societal and political discussions and for the development of new digital products, services, or business models. While the methodology is outlined in this article, in a follow-up article the application of the methodology will be presented and the use of the approach reflected.
Paul Weigel; Manfred Fischedick. Review and Categorization of Digital Applications in the Energy Sector. Applied Sciences 2019, 9, 5350 .
AMA StylePaul Weigel, Manfred Fischedick. Review and Categorization of Digital Applications in the Energy Sector. Applied Sciences. 2019; 9 (24):5350.
Chicago/Turabian StylePaul Weigel; Manfred Fischedick. 2019. "Review and Categorization of Digital Applications in the Energy Sector." Applied Sciences 9, no. 24: 5350.