Implications of climate change for energy systems in a multisectoral context

Background. We describe and provide an initial evaluation of the Climate Action Simulation, a simulation-based role-playing game that enables participants to learn for themselves about the response of the climate-energy system to potential policies and actions. Participants gain an understanding of the scale and urgency of climate action, the impact of different policies and actions, and the dynamics and interactions of different policy choices. Intervention. The Climate Action Simulation combines an interactive computer model, En-ROADS, with a role-play in which participants make decisions about energy and climate policy. They learn about the dynamics of the climate and energy systems as they discover how En-ROADS responds to their own climate-energy decisions. Methods. We evaluated learning outcomes from the Climate Action Simulation using pre- and post-simulation surveys as well as a focus group. Results. Analysis of survey results showed that the Climate Action Simulation increases participants’ knowledge about the scale of emissions reductions and policies and actions needed to address climate change. Their personal and emotional engagement with climate change also grew. Focus group participants were overwhelmingly positive about the Climate Action Simulation, saying it left them feeling empowered to make a positive difference in addressing the climate challenge. Discussion and Conclusions. Initial evaluation results indicate that the Climate Action Simulation offers an engaging experience that delivers gains in knowledge about the climate and energy systems, while also opening affective and social learning pathways.

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The influence of climate change on renewable energy systems designed to achieve zero energy buildings in the present: A case study in the Brazilian Savannah

Sustainable Cities and Society ◽

10.1016/j.scs.2019.101843 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 52 ◽

pp. 101843 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Emeli Lalesca Aparecida da Guarda ◽

Renata Mansuelo Alves Domingos ◽

Stefany Hoffmann Martins Jorge ◽

Luciane Cleonice Durante ◽

João Carlos Machado Sanches ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Renewable Energy ◽

Energy Systems ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Renewable Energy Systems ◽

Brazilian Savannah ◽

Zero Energy Buildings

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Energy and Climate

10.1093/oso/9780190490331.001.0001 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael B. McElroy

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Climate ◽

Critical Role ◽

Heat Content ◽

Energy Systems ◽

The Arctic ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Rate Of Increase ◽

The Us ◽

Scientific Fact

The climate of our planet is changing at a rate unprecedented in recent human history. The energy absorbed from the sun exceeds what is returned to space. The planet as a whole is gaining energy. The heat content of the ocean is increasing; the surface and atmosphere are warming; mid-latitude glaciers are melting; sea level is rising. The Arctic Ocean is losing its ice cover. None of these assertions are based on theory but on hard scientific fact. Given the science-heavy nature of climate change, debates and discussions have not played as big a role in the public sphere as they should, and instead are relegated to often misinformed political discussions and inaccessible scientific conferences. Michael B. McElroy, an eminent Harvard scholar of environmental studies, combines both his research chops and pedagogical expertise to present a book that will appeal to the lay reader but still be grounded in scientific fact. In Energy and Climate: Vision for the Future, McElroy provides a broad and comprehensive introduction to the issue of energy and climate change intended to be accessible for the general reader. The book includes chapters on energy basics, a discussion of the contemporary energy systems of the US and China, and two chapters that engage the debate regarding climate change. The perspective is global but with a specific focus on the US and China recognizing the critical role these countries must play in addressing the challenge of global climate change. The book concludes with a discussion of initiatives now underway to at least reduce the rate of increase of greenhouse gas emissions, together with a vision for a low carbon energy future that could in principle minimize the long-term impact of energy systems on global climate.

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Waste wood as bioenergy feedstock. Climate change impacts and related emission uncertainties from waste wood based energy systems in the UK

Waste Management ◽

10.1016/j.wasman.2017.11.042 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 74 ◽

pp. 241-252 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Mirjam Röder ◽

Patricia Thornley

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Energy Systems ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Bioenergy Feedstock ◽

Waste Wood ◽

The Uk

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Water, land and climate nexus of electricity from biomass

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10330 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Nariê Souza ◽

Thayse Hernandes ◽

Karina M. B. Bruno ◽

Daniele S. Henzler ◽

Otávio Cavalett

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

Energy Systems ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Renewable Energy Systems ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Change Mitigation

<p>Driven by the expected population growth, the world faces now the challenge of meeting energy demands of about 9 billion people on the next decades and avoid dangerous climate change effects. In this context, Renewable Energy Systems (RES) are a key strategy to decarbonize the power sector and contribute to the climate change mitigation targets. In the Special Report on Climate Change and Land, IPCC calls attention to possible trade-offs, adverse side-effects and implications to sustainable development that the large-scale deployment of bioenergy may cause. A comprehensive understanding of the sustainability profile along the entire life-cycle of electricity production is fundamental if we want to realize the transition to cleaner technologies in the energy sector. In this study we analyze the water, land and climate impacts of electricity production systems in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We focus our analysis in the electricity production from sugarcane straw in Brazil, since there is a great opportunity for better using this lignocellulosic material for bioenergy applications. We relate appropriate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) indicators to multiple SDGs, considering attainable and potential sugarcane yields, derived from agroclimatic modeling. When discussing the sustainability of bioenergy production, a broader sustainability analysis, as provided by the SDGs, can help to identify water, land and climate nexus and suggest possible technological solutions for minimizing possible trade-offs among the different impacts. Our analysis demonstrates the nexus implications of electricity production from sugarcane biomass to the context of the SDGs, as well as the spatially explicit environmental implications of electricity production form sugarcane biomass.</p><p>Keywords: renewable energy systems, life cycle assessment, climate change mitigation, sustainable development</p>

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Political Challenges of the Climate-Changed Society

Political Science and Politics ◽

10.1017/s1049096512001357 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 46 (01) ◽

pp. 13-17

Author(s):

David Schlosberg

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Research Agenda ◽

Environmental Governance ◽

Turning Point ◽

Energy Systems ◽

The Political ◽

Global Environmental Governance ◽

Political Implications ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Impacts Of Climate Change

We are at a turning point when it comes to the political implications of climate change. Given the reality of a future in a climate-changed world, it is time for us—broadly as a species, but particularly as academics—to move beyond the foci of the last few decades on the politics of preventing climate change through global agreements. There is a growing literature on the obvious need to slow the impacts of climate change, develop postcarbon energy systems, and design new forms of global environmental governance. Beyond these immediate needs, however, climate change poses a range of new problems and requires a broader research agenda for a climate-challenged politics.

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