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Christoph Bertram

@christoph-bertram.bsky.social
1.1K followers 604 following 510 posts

Energy systems modeling & policy analysis - Professor at Interdisciplinary Transformation University IT:U @ituaustria.bsky.social, & guest at Center for Global Sustainability, CGS @ctrglobsust.bsky.social at UMD Views my own

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Reposted by Christoph Bertram
Palma Polyak @palmapolyak.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
What struck me immediately in German academia was the near absence of scholars from the former GDR (something I’m attuned to, as an Eastern European). The transition shock feels under-researched, with many stories untold. On this Day of German Unity, let's also remember the work that lies ahead.
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Robbie Andrew @robbieandrew.bsky.social · 7h
At the end of 2025, the Netherlands saw a sharp increase of BEV registrations as purchases were brought forward to avoid new tax rules. But now in September that rate of BEVs is being reached without the threat of imminent tax changes. This is the trend.
Graph showing: Registrations of new passenger cars: Netherlands
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LeRaffl @leraffl.bsky.social · 8h
In Switzerland, heavy trucks are now more electric than passenger cars. Over the last 12 months: 28.0% of new heavy trucks were BEV 26.5% of new cars A year ago trucks were at 19%, so that's a huge jump. And buses are even further ahead at 48%.
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Kevin Wilson @kwilsonhfx.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Shocking.
NTSB graph showing the relationship between miles biked per person per year and cyclists killed per billion miles biked. There's an obvious negative trend (people bike more in place where it's safer to do so.
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Christoph Bertram @christoph-bertram.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I had the same initial thought when seeing the semafor figure: 2026 isn't over yet, so surely there is some data issue. So thanks for digging into the details and making the outcome available! Side note: Quite remarkable how COVID had a persistent effect on tourists from UK and Japan!
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Christoph Bertram @christoph-bertram.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
My very first EV road trip was with a Renault Zoe (40 kWh battery, max 22 kW AC charging, no DC) from Frankfurt to Ile d'Oleron, in 2020. This year, we had a Megane (60 kWh battery, max 11 kW AC charging, 120 kW DC) and while that first trip was adventure, this year was no different than in an ICE.
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Setu @setupelz.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Two years plus in the making... our paper building fair effort sharing directly into how integrated assessment model (IAM) scenarios are generated is out in Environmental Research Letters🧵 @iopp-environment.bsky.social @iiasa.ac.at doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aea34d
First page of the article 'Equitable cooperation deepens the solution space for high ambition pathways' by Setu Pelz and eleven co-authors, published open access in Environmental Research Letters 21 (2026) 184019 on 18 September 2026. The page shows the author list, affiliations and the abstract.
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Elin Lerum Boasson @elinlb.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I am in Bangkok for the @ipcc.bsky.social 2nd Lead Author Meeting for the 7th Assessment Report, Working Group III Mitigation of Climate Change. The ongoing flooding of Bangkok is a stark reminder of the consequences of extreme weather events.
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Lauri Myllyvirta @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
NEW from us: five years after China pledged to stop overseas coal power projects and support clean energy, dozens of coal power plants have been canceled and the country's overseas clean energy financing has seen impressive growth, but gaps remain in the coal ban.
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Christoph Bertram @christoph-bertram.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Exciting personal news: I'm thrilled to start a new chapter joining a great team of colleagues at @ituaustria.bsky.social and jointly shaping a new university in Linz, Austria! I am very grateful for the trust of my new colleagues, and the support for this step from @ctrglobsust.bsky.social
Christoph Bertram with IT:U's founding president Stefanie Lindstaedt in front of screens
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Robbie Andrew @robbieandrew.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Very strong policy support is sustaining strong growth in sales of battery-electric cars in France, reaching 38% in August, and 30% so far this year. Subsidies are higher for lower-income households, and there are also subsidised leasing schemes for this group. robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/?la...
Graph showing: Monthly sales of new passenger cars: France (Source: https://robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/?lang=en&freq=monthly&type=relative&sort=bev-share&country=France)
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Christoph Bertram @christoph-bertram.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
New paper rdcu.be/Ec9ActW9qnma from CGS's Indonesia team shows potential negative impacts of biodiesel blending target for the country. Transport electrification, which is already picking up in the country offers an alternative without as severe trade-offs with forest conservation and food security
Monthly sales of new passenger cars in Indonesia from 2010 - June 2026, showing share of battery electric vehicles starting to increase after 2021, reaching 23% in June 2026
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Christoph Bertram @christoph-bertram.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
New paper rdcu.be/Ec9ActW9qnma from CGS's Indonesia team shows potential negative impacts of biodiesel blending target for the country. Transport electrification, which is already picking up in the country offers an alternative without as severe trade-offs with forest conservation and food security
Monthly sales of new passenger cars in Indonesia from 2010 - June 2026, showing share of battery electric vehicles starting to increase after 2021, reaching 23% in June 2026
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Lyssa Freese @lfreese.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I am hiring a postdoc to join my group at UC Irvine's Department of Earth System Science to work on rapid response modeling of air quality and health impacts of energy policy! You can learn more about the position and apply here: recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF10361
recruit.ap.uci.edu
Postdoctoral Scholar - Climate, Pollution, and Solutions
University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
The city is Zaragoza: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26081...
apod.nasa.gov
APOD: 2026 August 13 – Total Solar Eclipse Over Spain
A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.
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Federica Genovese @fgenovese.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
And yes in the 20th century the fossil economy has fueled crucial human development, no doubt. But let’s please not pretend that the biz folks profiting from fossil ownership have not weaponized it, or that *in a normal edu/media enviro* people blindly assume they do not come with bad externalities
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Federica Genovese @fgenovese.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Keeping these 2 sources of opposition independent from each other assumes that climate-forcing lobbies are genuinely only worried about how to get cleaner on their terms; but that’s only true of some ff-adjacent industries: as colleagues have shown, ff is treating climate as an existential battle.
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Federica Genovese @fgenovese.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
much agreement with this 🧵 but pol science has clearly shown that ideologically opposition to clean energy is a direct function of political efforts in fossil fuels sectors and constituencies to generate such ideology. So no, fossil lobbying for their interests and culture wars are not separate.
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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
A continuity of conflict, 1776-2026 I wrote about how to approach a history that is complicated, inspiring, frustrating, uplifting, and horrifying – all at once, all the time. From the Declaration to Donald Trump. Some thoughts from my new piece (no paywall - please consider subscribing): 🧵
steady.page
From the Declaration to Donald Trump
Wrestling with a history that is complicated, inspiring, frustrating, uplifting, and horrifying. A continuity of conflict, 1776-2026
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Jenny Chase @solarchase.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
The UK doesn't yet have that much solar capacity, and neither does France; but even so, imagine the power grid last week if it *hadn't* had that big solar chunk (this is France last Tuesday, during a scorcher; at 2pm, load was 57GW and solar was 19.5GW).
Chart of power demand, supply and load for France on June 22 and 23 2026, during an extreme heatwave. Source is BloombergNEF. The power mostly came from nuclear, but there's a substantial chunk of power coming from solar during the daytime.
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Jenny Chase @solarchase.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
It does feel insane that none of "the progressive case for aircon" mentions solar. If this heatwave had happened in 2010, the European grid would have buckled in the daytime! As it is, there were some issues in the evening when the sun went down. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Not just for rich people: the progressive case for air conditioning | Phineas Harper
Air conditioning can bring significant benefits but also real harms. The answer is for it to take its place alongside a comprehensive state plan for climate adaptation, says writer and curator Phineas...
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Kate Mackenzie @katemac.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
This might be one of the funniest chart about energy scenarios I’ve seen. You can hardly see “actual” for gas
Winners and Losers
The IEA overestimated gas growth in Asia and underestimated solar

Gas
• Forecast 547 TWh
• Actual 17 TWh

Solar
• Forecast 465 TWh
• Actual 1,333 TWh

Note: Shows expected growth in Asian power generation between 2018 and 2025, based on actual 2018 generation, actual 2025 generation, and the 2018 World Energy Outlook's Current Policies Scenario estimates for 2025. Actual 2025 generation figures are from Ember.
Source: International Energy Agency, Ember, Bloomberg Opinion calculations
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Søren Have @sorenhave.dk · 16/06/2026
Excellent analysis of what the drop in petrol demand means: “Europe reaches the breaking point first, for a reason that is almost tidy. Its refining system was built to export petrol, and the export markets are vanishing faster than its own demand” therewnewableguru.substack.com/p/the-great-...
therewnewableguru.substack.com
The great oil inflection
Who pays when petrol stops paying the refinery’s rent
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Daniel Huppmann @danielhuppmann.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
🎉 Release 3.4 of our Python package pyam for scenario analysis & data visualisation New features: 1. Aggregate Kyoto-GHG using different GWP metrics 2. Improved support for datetime & categorical subannual timeseries data 3. Integration with latest version of ixmp4 database package #pyam_iamc 🔌💡
github.com
GitHub - IAMconsortium/pyam: Analysis & visualization of energy & climate scenarios
Analysis & visualization of energy & climate scenarios - IAMconsortium/pyam
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Kelly Hereid @kellyhereid.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Never pass up the chance to re up a delicious ternary diagram:
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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 10/06/2026
"Cleaner is cheaper" hasn't broken through in part because it wasn't true until 5-10 years ago. For decades before then, cleaner was more expensive. We even have words for it, like "green premium." Republicans (& some corporate Democrats) are using that misunderstanding to weaken or gut policy..
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Robert Gieseke (Openclimatedata) @openclimatedata.net · 10/06/2026
Have you ever heard the sentence "What about imported emissions"? Now it's possible to quickly check on Openclimatedata, for example for the UK: openclimatedata.net/countries/un... (Data from Global Carbon Budget, Consumption emissions updated from @glenpeters.bsky.social et al.)
Plot from https://openclimatedata.net/countries/united-kingdom
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Neil Grant @neilgrant.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Chart of the day. The energy transition is happening in real time! 😍
Two area charts showing that in Australia's National Electricity Market, battery discharge replaced peaking gas at the evening demand peak between April 2025 and April 2026.
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Robbie Andrew @robbieandrew.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Here are the data plotted as shares, where you can see the change of direction in 2026. May saw BEVs making up 21% of all new passenger cars sold in Australia.
Graph showing: Monthly sales of new light-duty vehicles: Australia (Source: https://robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/?lang=en&freq=monthly&type=relative&sort=bev-share&country=South+Korea%2CAustralia)
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Happy #WorldBicycleDay to all who celebrate this simple solution to some of our most complex problems.
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Wincenty "Vince" Pawlowski @vpski.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Happy to join the celebration! www.who.int/campaigns/wo...
who.int
World Bicycle Day
Since its establishment in 2018, World Bicycle Day has been marked annually on 3 June by advocates in many countries.
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ClimateFran @climatefran.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Economics - this discipline so many climate folks love to hate. James Rising and I have a chapter out today in the Handbook of Climate Economics summarizing and evaluating some of these "constructive critiques" www.sciencedirect.com/science/chap...
sciencedirect.com
Critical perspectives on climate change economics
Economists have been engaged with the climate change problem for 50 years. Economic thought, particularly the advantages of emissions pricing policies…
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Christoph Bertram @christoph-bertram.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Fully agree, but want to be really very specific here: Using RCP8.5 forcing and temperature still has value as a high emissions, high climate sensitivity climate outcomes & for impacts. Using the IAM output (energy, land use) from SSP5-8.5 however really should be discouraged as outdated.
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 21/05/2026
👀👀👀 the UN general assembly has backed the ICJ climate opinion – despite opposition from the US & 7 others (Russia, Saudi, Iran, Belarus, Liberia, Yemen & Israel) Also a notable abstention from COP31 host Turkey
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Rebecca Dell @rebeccawdell.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
While chatting with some friends, it occurred to me that other people could benefit from a summary understanding of what's going on in the oil and gas markets. Here are some little pictures to give you the big picture. 🧵
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Center for Global Sustainability @ctrglobsust.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
New research 📣 An article in Progress in Energy, authored by CGS researchers, presents a four-dimensional framework to enhance energy scenario modeling for sub-Saharan Africa countries: doi.org/10.1088/2516...
A journal article with the title, "Decision informative and policy relevant scenario modeling for energy sector in sub-Saharan Africa."
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Daniel Huppmann @danielhuppmann.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Wrapped up my annual course "open-source energy systems modelling" at @tuwien.at this week, slides under CC-BY on Zenodo The course covers what I would like to have learned 15 years ago: best-practice in scientific software dev, energy-system modelling & scenario analysis... doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Slide overview of the lecture, summarizing content and teaching goals
- Introduction to scientific programming and open-source software/data
- Integrated Assessment and sustainable development 
- Development of a national energy system model for policy analysisSlide with a visual representation of a full "git" workflow with remote repository integrationSlide on the gap between current policies and pledges, with a figure on gap between current policies and ambition from the UNEP Emissions Gap Report (2023)Slide on the features of the pya package for scenario analysis and visualisation
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Elle Cordova @ellecordova.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Born in fire, battered by the wreckage of colliding worlds, covered for eons in magma, wracked by volcanoes, frozen and thawed again and again, and after everything went just wrong and right enough, here it is: our home. The rarest gift in the known universe. Happy Earth Day.
A photo of Earth taken by the crew of Artemis II.
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Nicolas Fulghum @nicolasfulghum.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Solar's 636 TWh rise was the largest structural single year increase of any electricity source ever. The only larger rise was coal's 2021 rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Solar had the biggest absolute increase of any source in each of the last four years.
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Nicolas Fulghum @nicolasfulghum.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
NEW | Clean power met ALL the growth in global electricity demand in 2025 Solar generation alone met THREE QUARTERS of the demand rise and grew by 30%. Fossil generation stagnated (-0.2%). 🧵 A thread on changes in the global power system in 2025...
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Palma Polyak @palmapolyak.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
There's a global race to secure EV battery gigafactories & reduce reliance on China. But not all clean-tech projects are created equal. Some generate good jobs & domestic capacities, others produce ecological harm & low value-added enclaves. New paper & thread 👇 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
I'm not sure if this is controversial, but I declare electric vehicles as the most inevitable clean technology - more so even than techs with higher current adoption, such as wind or solar. As my mentor used to say: "it's all over but the shouting", though most people don't realize it.
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Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
See the US GHG emissions inventory that the Trump Administration didn't want you to see! (Thanks to the good folks at @ctrglobsust.bsky.social for taking on this task)
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Christoph Bertram @christoph-bertram.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
You - are interested in research on national climate strategies? - have experience in modeling and/or other analytical methods to evaluate policy options? - want to work in a great team? Apply directly at this link (deadline April 18), and learn more about CGS in the links in the post below.
umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
Open Rank - Associate/Assistant Research Professor-3
Job Description Summary Organization's Summary Statement: The Center for Global Sustainability (CGS, cgs.umd.edu) at the University of Maryland (UMD) seeks to hire up to three Associate Research Profe...
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Tom Brown @nworbmot.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
In this time of turbulence, let's not forget the good news on solar and batteries - now cheap enough that most people can get most of their electricity from them, and save money. Had a great time with @chrisnelder.bsky.social on this podcast discussing this new world: nworbmot.org/blog/solar-b...
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Christoph Bertram @christoph-bertram.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Was struggling this morning, thinking on whether to talk with my daughters over breakfast about what had happened yesterday, but just couldn't... So this really resonates strongly with me. Thank you, @michaelfdubois.bsky.social and perhaps you want to use your account here more in the future...
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Ben Sanderson @benmsanderson.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
So... now we can breathe again. Let's talk about ScenarioMIP. The final version is now up on GMD - and there's some changes since the first draft. /THREAD/ gmd.copernicus.org/articles/19/...
gmd.copernicus.org
The Scenario Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP7 (ScenarioMIP-CMIP7)
Abstract. Scenarios serve as a critical tool in climate change analysis, enabling the exploration of future evolution of the climate system, climate impacts, and the human system (including mitigation...
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