Dr. Germán Bersalli
Research Associate
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Germán Bersalli is a researcher at the Energy Transitions and Public Policy group at RIFS. Since May 2023, he has been the scientific leader for the project "Measuring Progress in the Energy Transition from a Systemic Change Perspective." His research resides at the dynamic intersection of ecological economics, political science, and transition studies, with a central focus on policies that drive transformative change toward a zero-carbon economic system.
Germán's current research encompasses the following domains:
- Crises and Structural Change: Investigating the extent to which economic crises can act as catalysts for institutional, economic, and policy shifts, influencing the trajectory and speed of energy transitions and decarbonisation.
- Policy Mixes for Net-Zero Transitions: Delving into the design and assessment of climate and energy policy instruments and strategies that facilitate the elimination of fossil fuels consumption while phasing-in low-carbon technologies, particularly within the Global South.
- Novel Approaches to Progress Assessment in Net-Zero Transitions: Exploring innovative methodologies to measure advancements in climate transitions from a systemic perspective.
- Geopolitics and Sustainability of Critical Raw Materials for EU Climate Transition: Analysing the geopolitics and sustainability considerations concerning essential raw materials integral to the European Union's climate transition.
Germán holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Grenoble Alpes in France. He has taught university courses, including Renewable Energy Policy, Energy and Sustainability, and Climate Policy in the Global South. In addition to his academic endeavours, he has counselled governments and international NGOs on economic development, energy and climate policy matters. Previously, he worked at the GAEL research centre (France), Argentinean National Bank and studied at the universities National of Entre Rios (Argentina), and Federal do Parana (Brazil).
- 2017-2019 Lecturer in Economics (ATER) at the Grenoble-Alpes University, France
- 2013-2017 PhD researcher at GAEL (Grenoble Applied Economics Laboratory), France
- 2011-2012 Loan manager at de Argentina's national bank, Argentina
- 2008-2012 Teaching assistant at the University Nacional de Entre Ríos, Argentina
- Development and ecological economics.
- Climate and energy policy in the Global North and the Global South.
- Policy evaluation, structural and technological change.
- Geopolitics of the energy transition.
- Sociotechnical transitions.
Publications at the RIFS
Publications prior to joining the RIFS
- 2018 Bersalli G, Hallack M, Guzowski C, Losekann L, Zabaloy MF. La efectividad de las políticas de promoción de fuentes renovables de energía : experiencias en América del Sur. Enerlac. Revista de Energia de Latinoamerica y el Caribe. 2018;2(1):158-174.
- 2018 Bersalli G. The United States: towards a bottom-up climate leadership? Rapport annuel 2018 de l'Observatoire mondial de l'action climatique non-étatique. Cahier 1, énergie:78-90.
- 2018 Bersalli G. Canada: the long road towards decarbonisation of the electricity mix. Rapport annuel 2018 de l'Observatoire mondial de l'action climatique non-étatique. Cahier 1, énergie:54-65
- 2018 Bersalli G. Portugal: a blazing energy transition hampered by the resilience of coal. Rapport annuel 2018 de l'Observatoire mondial de l'action climatique non-étatique. Cahier 1, énergie:66-76.
- 2018 Bravo, V. & Bersalli, G. "Argentina: Panorama de la energía en 2015" Encyclopédie de lEnergie.
- 2017 Bersalli, G. "Évaluation et évolution des politiques de promotion des énergies renouvelables : la transition des secteurs électriques en Amérique Latine". Thèse de doctorat en Sciences économiques, Univ: Grenoble Alpes.
- 2017 Bersalli, G. & Simon, J.C. "Vers une transition énergétique des pays émergents : quelles politiques d'incitation aux énergies renouvelables dans le secteur électrique en Argentine et au Brésil ? " Développement durable et territoires. 2017;8(2).
- 2016 Bersalli, G. "El bloqueo tecnológico en el sector eléctrico argentino: Barreras a la difusión de las nuevas energías renovables", in Guzowski et al. Los desafíos de la política energética Argentina: Panorama y Propuestas. Ed. Dunken, Buenos Aires.
- 2021 course for PhD and master students: Renewable Energy Policy (UNS).
- 2020 Conference "Adopt, innovate, or nothing? Confronting carbon pricing theory with empirical evidence" ECPR Virtual General Conference.
- 2020 Lecture "Introduction to planetary economics & mitigation policy evaluation" Universität Potsdam, M.A. /
- 2020 Lecture "Paying for emissions: Theory and practice of carbon pricing" Universität Potsdam, M.A. / M.Sc.
- 2019 Conference "The role of non-state actors in the European energy transition: the cases of Portugal and Germany" 42th conference of the International Association for Energy Economics: local energy, global markets, Montreal (Canada), 29-30 June.
- 2018 Conference "Decarbonising power generation - The effectiveness of renewable energy policy in Europe and Latin America" 37th International Energy Workshop, Gothenburg (Sweden) 19-21 June.
- 2018 Conference "Effectiveness of renewable energy policy in Latin America: an econometric approach" 41th conference of the International Association for Energy Economics: Transforming Energy Markets, Groningen (The Netherlands), 10-13 June.
- 2016 Conference "Explaining the slow diffusion of new renewable energy in the argentine electricity market: a wrong policy mix or an unfavourable context?" 39th conference of the International Association for Energy Economics: Energy expectations and uncertainty, Bergen (Norway), 19-22 June.
- 2012 EU Commission grant - Erasmus Mundus, ARTESS program - 3 years Ph.D in Economics funding
- 2011 Summa Cum Laude University Nacional de Entre Ríos, Faculty of Administration Sciences
- Guest Editor for the Energies Special Issue: Policy interactions in socio-technical transitions towards zero-carbon energy systems.