Towards nexus thinking in energy systems modelling : A multi-scale, embodied perspective
Di Felice, Louisa Jane (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Pérez-Sánchez, Laura (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Manfroni, Michele (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Giampietro, Mario (Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats)

Date:	2024
Abstract:	The European Green Deal aims to decarbonise the EU by 2050. In alignment with that goal, the REPowerEU plan took Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an opportunity to address the security and sustainability of the EU's energy sector, by increasing energy efficiency and local energy production. While policy targets are often a political choice, models informing policies shape what dimensions are included in (or excluded from) sustainability discourses. The relations between the EU's energy system and other nexus elements of the social-ecological system, within the EU (local) and outside (embodied in imports) are underrepresented in models and policies. Nexus thinking highlights these relations. We present a framework to represent the energy system through a collection of local and embodied components across different scales, accounting for the nexus elements embodied in energy imports. The framework is explained through the examples of Spain, Sweden and the EU, for 2018. By focusing on the interactions between energy and local and embodied nexus elements, we show how synergies between security and sustainability are less linear than what REPowerEU would suggest. Our results point to the need of including embodied elements in policy agendas, to better account for the global nature of sustainability policies.
Grants:	European Commission 689669 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-230 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2019/FI_B-01317 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2018/FI_B-00313 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CEX2019-000940-M
Note:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Complexity ; Decarbonisation ; Multi-scale ; Nexus ; Security ; Sustainability
Published in:	Energy policy, Vol. 187 (April 2024) , art. 114052, ISSN 0301-4215

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114052

13 p, 6.5 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles