SEED MICAT

SEED MICAT – Support Energy Efficiency Deployment with the Multiple Impacts CAlculation Tool, aims to help EU and member states at national, regional and local governance levels in including Multiple Impacts (MI) in their implementation of the Energy Efficiency First (EE1) principle. Basing this on strong and reliable analytical tools, “sowing thus the seeds” for a broad application of the principle. Considering MI in target setting argues for a fast phase-out of fossil fuels but also for a careful analysis of MI related to different pathways to climate neutrality, with varying contributions from energy demand and energy supply options.

Therefore, the project extends its MI framework to include renewable energy sources, advocates integrating policy modules, and showcases how it applies at different levels. SEED MICAT also includes replication analysis, capacity building, and a strong dissemination approach to promote knowledge on implementing the EE1 principle.

Results

The major objective of SEED MICAT is to support the EU and its Member States at all governance levels in including Multiple Impacts in their operationalisation and implementation of the Energy Efficiency First principle, based on strong and reliable analytical tools. The following specific objectives will be key to the project:

• Extending the scope of and improving the MICATool to allow the analysis of potentially competing or complementary paths and options to climate neutrality: to support the principal’s operationalisation, the Multiple Impacts framework is extended to renewable energy sources, thus making pathways relying on different policy mixes towards climate neutrality comparable. Furthermore, the learnings from the REFEREE and the Assessment Tool projects are used to add a policy assessment module to the MICATool, enabling policy makers to assess single and cross-sectoral policies. Finally, in consultation with policy makers and officials from the EU, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Germany, tool improvements will be provided.
• Integrating Multiple Impacts in political processes at European, national, regional, and local governance levels: The EU will incorporate Multiple Impacts assessments using MICATool in upcoming reference and climate neutrality scenarios. This establishes a methodological foundation for Impact Assessments and EU reporting on the Multiple Impacts of climate neutrality pathways, aligning with the EE1 principle. Similarly, SEED MICAT will serve as a basis for reporting by EU Member States, showcasing diverse applications at the national level. The project also aims to implement MICATool at regional and local levels to aid decision-making in these governance contexts.
• Enhancing the use of Multiple Impacts in concrete policy processes: SEED MICAT will develop three concrete implementation concepts for Multiple Impact analyses: specific analyses on import dependencies, energy system resilience, and biodiversity impacts; capacity building on MICATool and related methodologies for various governance levels; and a methodology for replicating analyses from selected Member States to others evaluating climate neutrality options. The project also prioritises a robust communication and dissemination strategy to maximise the practical use of Multiple Impacts in impact assessment and policy analysis across European, national, regional, and local scales.

ISINNOVA’s role

In the context of the SEED MICAT project, ISINNOVA is responsible for the development of a methodology to allow the replication of the energy efficiency measure for the selected Member States to all EU Member States. The objective is to adapt and apply the ISINNOVA replication methodology, SITEE Replicability, to assess, through a quantitative/qualitative approach, the replication potential of the energy efficiency solution, including the decision path to integrate Multiple Impacts into the cost-benefit analysis of the energy efficiency policy in 8 additional Member States.

ISINNOVA is also involved in improving the MICATool for policy assessment, developing concrete synergies with the national module of the REFEERE policy assessment tool, as well as contributing to the dissemination of the benefits of energy efficiency.

Partners

ISINNOVA (Italy) | FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV- Fraunhofer (Germany) | INSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN ENERGY AND CLIMATE POLICY STICHTING – IEECP (The Netherlands) | WUPPERTAL INSTITUT FUR KLIMA, UMWELT, ENERGIE GGMBH (Germany) | E3-MODELLING AE (EL) | INTERNATIONALES INSTITUT FUER ANGEWANDTE SYSTEMANALYSE – IIASA (AT) | AGENZIA NAZIONALE PER LE NUOVE TECNOLOGIE, L’ENERGIA E LO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO SOSTENIBILE – ENEA (Italy) | SEVEN, THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY CENTER Z.U. (CZ) | RICERCA SUL SISTEMA ENERGETICO – RSE SPA (Italy)

Contacts

Giorgia Galvini

Project details