In this episode we explain how co-accounting can be used by countries and companies to quantify their environmental impacts and discuss the benefits and limitations of these methods.

References

Sandoz fire: https://www.iksr.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Dokumente_en/Press_Releases/30_Jahre_nach_SANDOZ_Hintergrund.docx_de-DE_en-GB.pdf

GDP: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Beginners:GDP_-_What_is_gross_domestic_product_(GDP)%3F

GDP Critique: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gdp-is-the-wrong-tool-for-measuring-what-matters/

A brief history of ecological accounting: https://www.aefr.eu/en/article/4078-a-brief-history-of-ecological-accounting

UN- SEEA: https://seea.un.org/

CARE Model: https://www.routledge.com/Humanitarian-Ecological-Economics-and-Accounting-Capitalism-Ecology-and-Democracy/Richard-Rambaud/p/book/9781032046648

CSRD: https://www.deutscher-nachhaltigkeitskodex.de/en/reporting-obligations/corporate-sustainability-reporting-directive-csrd/important-information/

Benefits of good environmental accounting for corporations: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/9/480

Costa Rica Example: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5960649_Costa_Rica's_Payment_for_Environmental_Services_Program_Intention_Implementation_and_Impact

Decoupling Debunked: https://eeb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Decoupling-Debunked.pdf

Critical studies:

Holmes, C. & Yarrow, D. (2023) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03085147.2023.2237350

Järvinen et al. (2022). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-020-04600-7

Data Sources

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?locations=EU

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.TOTL.RT.ZS

In this episode we talk about the institutional set-up of the electricity market in Germany and the European Union. We explain the different options for buying and selling electricity, how prices are computed, and how an increase in renewable energies might change the market design in the future.

Main References

Agora Energiewende. (2019). Liberalisation of electricity markets in Germany. Agora Energiewende. https://www.agora-energiewende.org/fileadmin/Projekte/2019/Liberalisation_Power_Market/Liberalisation_Electricity_Markets_Germany_V1-0.pdf

Bundesnetzagentur. (2025). Monitoring report 2025. Bundesnetzagentur. https://data.bundesnetzagentur.de/Bundesnetzagentur/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/Areas/ElectricityGas/CollectionCompanySpecificData/Monitoring/MonitoringReport2025.pdf

Bundesnetzagentur. (n.d.). SMARD – Strommarktdaten für Deutschland. https://www.smard.de/en

Meyer, T. (2025). Strom: Über Nostalgie, Zukunft und warum der Markt längst entschieden hat. BoD – Books on Demand.

Additional references

Electricity Maps. (n.d.). Live electricity map [Interaktive Karte]. Abgerufen am 17. Juni 2026 von https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/live/fifteen_minute

EPEX SPOT. (2019). EUPHEMIA public description: Single price coupling algorithm. https://www.epexspot.com/sites/default/files/2020-02/Euphemia_Public%20Description_Single%20Price%20Coupling%20Algorithm_190410.pdf

FLOSM. (n.d.). Stromnetze mit Umspannwerken und detaillierter Infrastruktur [Interaktive Karte]. https://www.flosm.org/de/Stromnetz.html

Kopernikus Projekt (2025). A cost-efficient energy transition: Scenarios for climate neutrality 2045 – Summary. Kopernikus-Projekt Ariadne. https://doi.org/10.48485/pik.2025.016

In this episode we talk about liberalisation, one of the central reform movements in infrastructure governance during the last 30 years. We discuss the liberalisation of the electricity and telecommunication sectors in Germany, which is also intertwined with a larger movement on the EU level.

References

Bieling, H.-J. (2008). Liberalisierung und Privatisierung in Deutschland: Versuch einer Zwischenbilanz. WSI Mitteilungen 10/2008. https://www.wsi.de/data/wsimit_2008_10_bieling.pdf

Dewenter, Ralf; Haucap, Justus (2004) : Die Liberalisierung der Telekommunikationsbranche in Deutschland, Diskussionspapier, No. 27, https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/23614/1/paper_27.pdf

Serrallés, R. J. (2006). Electric energy restructuring in the European Union: Integration, subsidiarity and the challenge of harmonization. Energy Policy. Volume 34, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2004.08.041

Science Direct Summary "Competitive Market": https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/economics-econometrics-and-finance/competitive-market

Natural monopoly definition: https://www.unescwa.org/sd-glossary/natural-monopoly