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Degrowth lacks a theory of how the state can finance ambitious social-ecological policies and public provisioning systems while maintaining macroeconomic stability during a reduction of economic activity. Addressing this question, we present a synthesis of degrowth scholarship and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) rooted in their shared understanding of money as a public good and their common opposition to artificial scarcity. We present two arguments. First, we draw on MMT to argue that states with sufficient monetary sovereignty face no obstacle to funding the policies necessary for a just and sustainable degrowth transition. Increased public spending neither requires nor implies GDP growth. Second, we draw on degrowth research to bring MMT in line with ecological reality. MMT posits that fiscal spending is limited only by inflation, and thus the productive capacity of the economy. We argue that efforts to deal with this constraint must also pay attention to social and ecological limits. Based on this synthesis we propose a set of monetary and fiscal policies suitable for a stable degrowth transition, including a stronger regulation of private finance, tax reforms, price controls, public provisioning systems and an emancipatory job guarantee. This approach can support broad democratic mobilization for a degrowth transition. • Degrowth and Modern Monetary Theory form a strategic symbiosis for addressing social and ecological crises • Public spending on social and ecological objectives is not constrained by tax revenues or GDP • MMT needs to incorporate ecological limits to production and productive capacity • Targeted fiscal and monetary policies can ensure macroeconomic and price stability during a degrowth transition • Policy priorities include a job guarantee, credit regulation, price controls, tax reforms, and universal public services • An MMT-informed degrowth transition requires more democratic control over monetary policy and financial system governance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's relative disregard for the economic, geopolitical and climatic concerns of its peripheral Eastern countries has contributed to making the war in Ukraine possible. Its consequences are now returning in the form of energy dependence and economic instability on the Union as a whole and the risk of economic crisis and deindustrialisation. This should prompt a re-assessment of the EU's strategy towards its eastern neighbours, particularly in the energy and climate policy field. This evaluation starts from the issue of control over cheap energy as a key material foundation of state and interstate power. On this basis, we analyse the struggle between Russia and the European core states over Ukraine in terms of the ability to extract an economic surplus through the unequal exchange of energy. The current escalation should be understood as an attempt by the Russian petrostate to preserve the economic basis of its regime, which is threatened by the prospect of a low-carbon transition in Europe. We conclude that a massive acceleration of the transition away from fossil fuels is the key to economic, geopolitical and climate stabilisation, highlighting possible policy instruments the EU could use to secure its production system and protect citizens' security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve market description. • Operating strategy for a generation pool comprising a Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) • Bidding strategy to derive optimal bids and to evaluate economic feasibility. • BESS market participation not economic feasible in 2019 but possibly in 2025. In continental Europe, automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve (aFRR) is one of three control reserve services to counteract imbalances in the electrical grid. The market is dominated by a few operators of conventional power plants since the auction design is complex and new players face various entrance barriers. In order to stabilize the electrical grid in the future, renewable generation technologies need to enter the market. To encourage operators (and traders) of renewable generation facilities to enter the market, this paper presents a bidding strategy based on an optimization approach for deriving an optimal bid and for estimating the revenue potential on this market. The focus is on the participation of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) either in standalone mode or in conjunction with a virtual power plant (VPP). An in-depth cost breakdown and battery ageing model support the derivation of earning potentials. With current costs of containerized BESS, an operation is not economically viable. However, with a predicted cost breakdown for the year 2025 and a pooled operation, profits can be generated. But even for the reduced-cost scenario, profits were found to be lower than on the Frequency Control Reserve (FCR) market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]