Malte Küper

Senior Economist for Energy and Climate Policy

Tel: +49 221 4981-673 Mail: kueper@iwkoeln.de Malte Küper

Joined the German Economic Institute in 2020
Born 1992 in Hamm (Westfalen)
Studies of power engineering at the TH Cologne and the University of Victoria (Canada)
Research focus on environment, energy, infrastructure in the project SCI4climate.NRW.

Thematic clusters

IW Publications

Fußhöller, Lukas / Küper, Malte, 2026, Transformationsrisiken messbar machen, IW-Report, Nr. 15, Gefördert durch die Stiftung Mercator, Köln
Zur Studie

Hüther, Michael / Küper, Malte / Schaefer, Thilo, 2023, Zukunft Erdgas. Wie viel brauchen wir noch und was kommt dann?, IW-Policy Paper, Nr. 5, Köln
Zur Studie

Kohlisch, Enno / Koppel, Oliver / Küper, Malte / Puls, Thomas, 2023, Forschungsschwerpunkte der Kfz-Industrie am Standort Deutschland. Eine Auswertung auf Basis der IW-Patentdatenbank, in: IW-Trends, 50. Jg., Nr. 1/2023, S. 23-69
Zur Studie

Küper, Malte / Potthoff, Jennifer, 2022, Wie Haushalte Gas sparen können, IW-Report, Nr. 45, Köln
Zur Studie

Küper, Malte / Koppel, Oliver / Kohlisch, Enno, 2021, Grüne Innovationen der Grundstoffindustrie in NRW, IW-Report, Nr. 40, Köln
Zur Studie

Kohlisch, Enno / Koppel, Oliver / Küper, Malte / Puls, Thomas, 2021, Innovationswandel in der deutschen Kfz-Industrie. Eine Analyse mit der IW-Patentdatenbank, in: IW-Trends, 48. Jg., Nr. 3, S. 68-88
Zur Studie

Expertises

Matthes, Felix Chr. / Schaefer, Thilo / Cludius, Johanna / Cook, Vanessa / Fischer, Andreas / Gaber, Ferdinand / Hermann, Hauke / Küper, Malte / Skribbe, Reena, 2026, Reform des EU-ETS-1 und flankierende Instrumente: Ein Policy Mix für die Dekarbonisierung der Industrie, Untersuchung gefördert durch die Stiftung Klimaneutralität, Berlin/Köln
Zur Studie

Küper, Malte / Schaefer, Thilo / Bähr, Cornelius / Goecke, Henry / Trenz, Marco, 2025, EU Climate Policy in Selected Economic Sectors. A Comparative Assessment from the Perspective of European Aviation, Köln
Zur Studie

External Publications

Nixon, Stewart / Küper, Malte, 2026, Critical Choices: How Malaysia and Germany can Navigate Shifting Energy Geostrategy, in: Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) (Hs.), Policy Ideas No. 98
Zur Studie

Lena Tholen / Anna Leipprand / Dagmar Kiyar / Sarah Maier / Malte Küper / Thomas Adisorn / Andreas Fischer, 2021, The Green Hydrogen Puzzle. Towards a German Policy Framework for Industry, in: Sustainability, No. 13 (22):12626

More from Malte Küper

External Publication 26. October 2026 Stewart Nixon* / Malte Küper in Policy Ideas

Critical Choices: How Malaysia and Germany can Navigate Shifting Energy Geostrategy

Malaysia and Germany, as constructive and reliable participants in globally interdependent energy (as well as trade and financial) markets, face an increasingly hostile, volatile, and uncertain environment surrounding energy choices.

Expertise 14. July 2026 Thilo Schaefer et al

Reform of the EU ETS 1 and accompanying instruments

The reforms to the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS 1) for the energy sector, energy-intensive industries, and aviation and maritime transport, due to take place in 2026, must address two key aspects in particular.

IW-Report No. 16 13. April 2026 Lukas Fußhöller / Malte Küper

Making transformation risks measurable

The decarbonization of German industry requires fundamental transformations of production processes.

Expertise 23. September 2025 Malte Küper et al.

EU Climate Policy in Selected Economic Sectors: A Comparative Assessment from the Perspective of European Aviation

The climate protection targets of the EU and Germany require profound transformation across all economic sectors – including aviation, which is considered difficult to decarbonise.

Event 23. September 2025 Thilo Schaefer / Malte Küper

Presentation of the new IW study: EU Climate Policy – what does it mean for EU aviation competitiveness?

A new study by the German Economic Institute (IW) and IW Consult, commissioned by Lufthansa Group, compares aviation with other hard-to-abate sectors and examines whether the current EU climate policy framework adequately addresses the sector’s unique decarbonization challenges.

IW-Policy Paper No. 5 30. May 2023 Michael Hüther / Malte Küper / Thilo Schaefer

The future of natural gas: how much more do we need and what comes next?

Natural gas has become increasingly important for Germany in the last three decades, be it for heating buildings, providing process heat in industry or generating electricity. At the same time, the dependence on imports of natural gas has risen to almost 100 percent in recent decades, with most of the imports coming from Russia.

IW-Trends No. 1 14. March 2023 Enno Kohlisch et al.

The Focus of Research in Germany’s Automotive Industry

The automotive industry in Germany is currently facing several challenges. Car production had already fallen significantly before the Covid19 pandemic and in 2020 and 2021 suffered two slumps of historic proportions.

IW-Report No. 45 3. September 2022 Malte Küper / Jennifer Potthoff

How households can save gas: What options are there aside from price?

In view of the current gas emergency, all consumers are urged to reduce their gas consumption. High prices are seen as the most effective incentive to save gas.

IW News 18. March 2022 Andreas Fischer / Malte Küper

Russian gas: Can Europe cope with an import stop?

Putin's war in Ukraine has been going on for over a week now. In order to hit Russia hard financially, an import stop for gas is also discussed. This would not only put a strain on Russia, but also on the European gas supply.

IW-Report No. 40 27. October 2021 Malte Küper / Oliver Koppel / Enno Kohlisch

Green innovations in the basic materials industry in NRW

Transforming the economy towards climate-neutrality poses major challenges for the energy-intensive primary industry in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). At the same time, the development of environmentally friendly basic materials and production processes presents a great potential for transforming NRW into an attractive industrial location for the future.