• Energy Research

This repository contains datasets used in the production of figures contained in MAGIC Deliverable 5.1 Matthews K.B. (Hutton), Blackstock K.L. (Hutton), Waylen K.A. (Hutton), Juarez-Bourke A. (Hutton) Miller D.G. (Hutton), Wardell-Johnson D.H. (Hutton), Rivington M. (Hutton), Hague A. (Hutton), Fisher D. (Hutton), Renner A. (UAB), Cadillo-Benalzacar J. (UAB), Schyns J. (UT), Giampietro M. (UAB) MAGIC (H2020-GA 689669) Project Deliverable 5.1 - July 2020 MAGIC Deliverable 5.1

This repository contains the data needed to reproduce the results in: Cadillo-Benalcazar, J.; Renner, A. Giampietro, M. (2020). A multiscale integrated analysis of the factors characterizing the sustainability of food systems in Europe. Journal of Environmental Management. Volume 271, 1 October 2020, 110944. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110944 Renner, A.; Cadillo-Benalcazar, J.; Benini, L., Giampietro, M. (2020). Environmental pressure of the European agricultural system: Anticipating the biophysical consequences of internalization. Ecosystem services. Special Issue: Agro-futures. Volume 46, December 2020, 101195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101195

Abstract Electric vehicles are a dominant policy solution in the EU. In policy documents, a transition to electric vehicles is justified through promises of a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and oil imports, as well as positive impacts on citizens (through reduced pollution) and the economy (through a boost in manufacturing and the generation of jobs). The evidence supporting such claims remains uncertain. Taking a stance that is grounded in complexity science, we introduce a hierarchical mapping of policy mechanisms, concerns and solutions – the elements making up policy narratives. Building on this mapping, we focus on questioning the solution-justification relationship for electric vehicles, by critically inspecting the material coherence between these justifications and the existing existing evidence. A targeted review shows how, for example, positive economic impacts largely depend on the location of battery and car manufacturing; or GHG emission reductions depend on promises of decarbonisation of the electricity sector, as well as on driving behaviours. Innovations are not just material objects, and such evidence does not necessarily weaken the dominant policy solution, nor the socio-technical imaginary it is grounded in. By questioning the material coherence of EV justification narratives in the EU, this case study points to a discussion about the effects of dominant policy narratives on the generation of science, warning against policy-based evidence in the co-creation of socio-technical imaginaries.

The paper presents insights from carrying out a pan-EU sustainability assessment using Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data (the old wine) with societal metabolism accounting (SMA) processes (the new bottles). The SMA was deployed as part of a transdisciplinary study with EU policy stakeholders of how EU policy may need to change to deliver sustainability commitments, particularly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The paper outlines the concepts underlying SMA and its specific implementation using the FADN data. A key focus was on the interactions between crop and livestock systems and how this determines imported feedstuffs requirements, with environmental and other footprints beyond the EU. Examples of agricultural production systems performance are presented in terms of financial/efficiency, resource use (particularly the water footprint) and quantifies potential pressures on the environment. Benefits and limitations of the FADN dataset and the SMA outputs are discussed, highlighting the challenges of linking quantified pressures with environmental impacts. The paper concludes that the complexity of agriculture’s interactions with economy and society means there is great need for conceptual frameworks, such as SMA, that can take multiple, non-equivalent, perspectives and that can be deployed with policy stakeholders despite generating uncomfortable knowledge.