The transition towards decarbonized and efficient energy systems has broad socioeconomic implications. We estimate the potential impacts on employment from efforts in energy efficiency in industry, transport and buildings as well as substituting local renewable energy sources for fossil fuels. Both energy supply and demand are accounted for. We use a hybrid approach that combines national energy transition scenarios with input-output tables, adjusted for new energy and non-energy activities. We conclude that the transition has a net positive impact on employment as illustrated by the case of Switzerland. The local and decentralized nature of energy efficiency and renewables retains a greater share of value-added domestically than does a supply chain of fossil fuels. Moreover, we find that more jobs are created in demand-side activities, such as building renovation, than in renewable energy generation. Positive impacts on jobs from spillover effects in all non-energy activities are also found.

The numbers of electric vehicles (EV) will increase as many countries perceive EVs as a solution to reduce the emissions of transportation and therefore incentivize their adoption. However, the deployment of public charging infrastructure is lagging behind that of EVs, which represents a potential barrier to their wide-scale adoption. The objective of this paper is to develop a comprehensive overview of potential EV charging solutions to be deployed in urban areas. Using a micro-Delphi approach, experts from transport, energy and urban planning were consulted and identified 15 realistic options for charging electric vehicles in urban environments by 2035. The solutions range from purely technical to more service oriented. Most of these solutions already exist today, although some remain at a very early stage of deployment. The five most likely options were on-street public charging points, charging at work, fast-charging stations, using building domestic plugs and semi-fast charging in public areas. When combined with the typical mobility and residential profiles, our results show that EV drivers will most likely rely on a mix of solutions, when they have no home chargers. As such, no breakthrough or major shift is expected in charging infrastructures, rather a scale-up of existing solutions. Our analysis concludes that urban charging options will be numerous and no single solution is expected to dominate as users with different EV user profiles will charge at different times and locations.