• Energy Research
• 11. Sustainability close
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Abstract Energy modelling is the process of using mathematical models to develop abstractions and then seek insights into future energy systems. It can be an abstract academic activity. Or, it can insert threads that influence our development. We argue therefore, that energy modelling that provides policy support (EMoPS) should not only be grounded in rigorous analytics, but also in good governance principles. As, together with other policy actions, it should be accountable. Almost all aspects of society and much of its impact on the environment are influenced by our use of energy. In this context, EMoPS can inspire, motivate, calibrate, and ‘post assess’ energy policy. But, such modeling is often undertaken by too few analysts under time and resource pressure. Building on the advances of ‘class leaders’, we propose that EMoPS should reach for practical goals — including engagement and accountability with the communities it involves, and those it will later affect. (We use the term Ubuntu, meaning ‘I am because you are’ to capture this interdependency). We argue that Ubuntu, together with retrievability, repeatability, reconstructability, interoperability and auditability (U4RIA) of EMoPS should be used to signal the beginnings of a new default practice. We demonstrate how the U4RIA principles can contribute in practice using recent modelling of aspirational energy futures by Costa Rica as a case study. This modelling effort includes community involvement and interfaces and integrates stakeholder involvement. It leaves a trail that allows for its auditing and accountability, while building capacity and sustainable institutional memory.

In this poster, the authors present how biomass can broaden our conception of nature to ensure a sustainable future. It is a collaborative and inter-disciplinary work that criticises the modern concept of resource and recognises the interdependence within ecosystems and their limits. Biomass reanchors our needs in their materiality and reminds us that interactions on ecosystems cannot be seen solely through the prism of services and production. Non-humans are not just a decoration to be used for human consumption but are an ally for sustainable prosperity thus they should be treated as such – and biomass is a good place to start. The authors argue that there is an urgent need to redefine our sensibility to the non-humans, the ethics of our interactions and of our own needs which goes hand in hand with a necessary arbitration and debate on the useful and the superfluous final services for humans.

In the past three decades, there has been increasing research carried out on the role of heritage and its processes in achieving broader sustainable development objectives beyond heritage conservation. As part of this movement, people-centered approaches and participation have been widely integrated into international regulations and guidelines on heritage management, stimulating the implementation of case studies-based research worldwide. Despite the wide advocacy of participatory heritage practices’ contributions to more inclusive and culturally sensitive local development in a great variety of projects, there is limited research into the roles these practices can have in addressing sustainability objectives. How are these roles addressed in international heritage regulatory frameworks, and what forms of participation are promoted for their fulfillment? This paper seeks to answer this research question through a content analysis of international declarations, conventions, guidelines, and policy documents focused on the roles and forms of participation that are promoted. A crossed-matched analysis of results reveals that active forms of participation are those most used to promote all roles and subcategories of participation, as a right, as a driver, and as an enabler of sustainable development. However, fewer active forms are presented as complementary at different stages of sustainability-oriented heritage practices. Moreover, a higher incidence of generic forms of participation can be observed in documents addressing international stakeholders, while partnership and intervention are to be found in those targeting regional and local actors. Nevertheless, the low incidence of decisional forms of participation confirms the challenges of power-sharing at all scales. Trends and influences are highlighted, informing heritage research, governance, and policymaking, but also revealing gaps and ambiguities in current regulations that further research encompassing a larger number of documents might confirm.

This publication brings together the major recommendations for the initial memorandum for the Spatial Implementation Plan (SIP) for the Oudland Polder (phase 1) arising from the European COASTAL Horizon 2020 project. They are based on a far-seeing exploration of the future, up to 2100, in which a range of societal developments were explored. This means that we reviewed, for example, how the further urbanisation and population growth in this polder region could evolve. We also checked which agricultural practices we could expect in the Oudland Polder in the future. This implies that we had to take into account a great many uncertainties when developing these recommendations. One of the ways to do this is to work with scenarios, whether or not supported by modelling work. This means each of the recommendations on the following pages is substantiated by the insights arising from this scenario work. Furthermore, we involved a diverse group of stakeholders living and/or working in the region in this exploration of the future. Through their expertise in relation to the Oudland Polder, they provided a valuable contribution to the debate on the future of this polder region. What they brought to the table helped to contextualise and interpret results. Thirdly, where possible, we also made the link between European and Flemish policy lines that are aimed at the longer term and present some clear objectives for the coming decades. This means the recommendations presented in this publication are a synthesis of research combining both qualitative and quantitative work, and in which modelling work builds upon a direct dialogue with stakeholders, but has also fed into it. We would therefore like to expressly thank all the stakeholders and experts who have made us familiar with the Oudland Polder in recent years, in particular the staff at the VLM. We also extend our sincere thanks to everyone who took part in one of the workshops, gave feedback on publications or took the time to work with us on the various scenarios referred to in this publication.

The combustion of fossil fuels produces emissions of the long-lived greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and of short-lived pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, that contribute to the formation of atmospheric aerosols1. Atmospheric aerosols can cool the climate, masking some of the warming effect that results from the emission of greenhouse gases1. However, aerosol particulates are highly toxic when inhaled, leading to millions of premature deaths per year2,3. The phasing out of unabated fossil-fuel combustion will therefore provide health benefits, but will also reduce the extent to which the warming induced by greenhouse gases is masked by aerosols. Because aerosol levels respond much more rapidly to changes in emissions relative to carbon dioxide, large near-term increases in the magnitude and rate of climate warming are predicted in many idealized studies that typically assume an instantaneous removal of all anthropogenic or fossil-fuel-related emissions1,4-9. Here we show that more realistic modelling scenarios do not produce a substantial near-term increase in either the magnitude or the rate of warming, and in fact can lead to a decrease in warming rates within two decades of the start of the fossil-fuel phase-out. Accounting for the time required to transform power generation, industry and transportation leads to gradually increasing and largely offsetting climate impacts of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, with the rate of warming further slowed by reductions in fossil-methane emissions. Our results indicate that even the most aggressive plausible transition to a clean-energy society provides benefits for climate change mitigation and air quality at essentially all decadal to centennial timescales.

Following the debate on the implications of international trade for global climate policy, this paper introduces the topic of the economic benefits from trade obtained by exporting countries in relation to the emissions generated in the production of exports. In 2008, 24% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 20% of the employment around the world were linked to international trade. China “exported” 30% of emissions and hosted 37.5% of the jobs generated by trade worldwide. The European Union and the United States of America were the destination of 25% and 18.4% of the GHG emissions embodied in trade. The imports of these two regions contributed to the creation of 45% of the employment generated by international trade. This paper proposes the idea of including trade issues in international climate negotiations, taking into account not only the environmental burden generated by developed countries when displacing emissions to developing countries through their imports, but also the economic benefits of developing countries producing the goods exported to developed countries.

Capítulos en libros This paper assesses the scalability and replicability of smart grid projects, by means of the identification of limitations and barriers faced by these projects. Factors have been identified that impact a project s scalability and replicability by means of a review of demonstration projects. The factors are of technical, economic, regulatory and social acceptance nature, and they describe requirements for scalability and replicability. Data was collected from ongoing European smart grid demonstration projects through the use of an elaborated questionnaire on the identified factors. Which allowed to quantify the status quo to what extent projects have taken these factors into account. Dew to their nature the derived factors can be categorized in technical, economic and regulatory & stakeholder related factor areas The obtained results allowed the identification of barriers, i.e. limitations regarding the scalability and replicability of smart grid projects. In particular projects face barriers regarding the absence of standards, the physical limits of the existing infrastructure, the absence of cost-benefit analyses, the neglect of varying macro-economic factors, stakeholder involvement and from the dependency of projects on regional or national regulatory frameworks and market designs. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion