Abstract: Reaching climate neutrality requires a different energy system from the one we have today. It will use far less fossil fuel and much more electricity, and do so more efficiently. Hydrogen and other carriers will fill the gaps where electrification is hard. However, a system built on wind and sun also needs flexibility. On some days prices turn negative, and during a “dark lull” with little sun and wind they spike. Heat pumps, electric cars, batteries and electrolysers can absorb part of these fluctuations, but only if households and firms actually adjust their consumption. This behavior depends on the price of electricity relative to gas and oil, so carbon pricing and a sound electricity market design matter. But prices alone are not enough. People make mistakes and often take bad decisions. The presentation will discuss these cognitive biases and how to address them. Digital tools could take over many of these decisions, from choosing an electricity contract to scheduling when appliances run. Yet experiments show that people hesitate to hand decisions to algorithms, especially when they have to share personal data or lose control over the outcome. Many also value the right to choose for its own sake. This intrinsic value of decision rights has a direct policy implication: command-and-control regulation that removes choice carries a hidden welfare cost.
Feldhaus, C., J. Lingens, A. Löschel and G. Zunker (2026), Measuring the intrinsic value of choice, European Economic Review, 184 (April), 105254.
Rodemeier, M. and A. Löschel (2025), Information Nudges, Subsidies, and Crowding Out of Attention: Field Evidence from Energy Efficiency Investments, Journal of the European Academic Association (JEEA), 23(4), 1397-1430.
Bio of speaker: Andreas Löschel holds the Chair of Environmental and Resource Economics and Sustainability at Ruhr University Bochum. He is a member of acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering. Prof. Löschel has repeatedly been named one of the 50 most influential economists in Germany in the F.A.Z. ranking, and his work has been recognised with numerous awards, among them the German Economic Prize of the Joachim Herz Foundation in 2022. For the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), he serves as Coordinating Lead Author of the Energy Systems chapter of the Seventh Assessment Report.
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