Data centres have a high energy demand while simultaneously generating significant amounts of waste heat. The ERIKA research project aims to harness this potential for the heat transition by examining the technical, economic and legal requirements for the efficient feed-in of waste heat into district heating networks.

The material use of CO₂ (Carbon Capture and Utilisation, CCU) faces key challenges, not least because the market for CO₂-based products remains underdeveloped. The WiNCO₂ project addresses these barriers by supporting publicly funded R&D projects on CCU, increasing their visibility and promoting systematic exchange between research, industry, policy and society. IKEM contributes to the project through a comprehensive legal analysis of the dynamically evolving European and national regulatory framework.

Large quantities of mineral construction waste arise every year and could be reused as secondary raw materials in new construction projects. In this project, IKEM, together with ifeu, analyses the climate mitigation potential of construction material recycling for the federal state of Hesse.

In this article, Louis Johns examines how climate-compatible planning of electricity and gas networks can be achieved and why greater consideration of uncertainty is essential in this context.

The Atlas of Regional Energy Transitions, co-edited by Prof Dr Ingo Uhlig, Annika Weber and Julie Hertel, illustrates, using three regions in Germany, how the energy transition can be shaped at regional level as a participatory, culturally embedded transformation process.

On 26 and 27 March 2026, IFZO will host an interdisciplinary workshop in Greifswald exploring how resilience is being renegotiated in the face of climatic, ecological and geopolitical change. Contributions can now be submitted.

The first review meeting of the E-Core project took place on 26 January. In Erfurt, the project team discussed initial findings and next steps on how Electric Road Systems (ERS) can contribute to decarbonising European road freight transport, particularly along a potential corridor from Rotterdam to Budapest. International experiences from the Netherlands and Austria, as well as possible synergies with high-power charging, were also explored.

The latest issue of the journal Climate and Law is now available and includes the following contributions:

• Michael Rodi / Simon Schäfer-Stradowsky: Transformation through transnational climate law

• Dr Philipp Steinberg: Hydrogen and the energy transition – from hype to reality. Preconditions for a successful hydrogen ramp-up

• Louis Johns: Needs assessment planning under Sections 12a et seq. of the Energy Industry Act in the context of climate transformation

• Jakob Kohmüller / Kerin Elea Motzkus / Yannick Vogt: Annual conference of the Association for Infrastructure Law (VIR): Climate protection at the brink – can technology save us?

• Book review: The Great Adaptation

• News: Increase in extreme weather events in 2025; more energy generated from solar than from lignite

• Case law: Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf, 4 December 2025 – 20 U 38/25: “Compensation of CO₂ emissions” as misleading advertising

• Case law: Regional Court of Hamburg, 20 November 2025 – 325 O 168/24: Claims for damages by airlines against “Klimakleber”

Are you researching legal aspects of climate change and interested in publishing your work? Contact the editorial team: klimr@ikem.de.

Join the IKEM team! We are currently recruiting:

• Doctoral candidates (m/f/d)
• Legal trainees
• Interns

We also offer positions for doctoral researchers.

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