scholarly journals The Resilience of Sustainability Transitions

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thorsten Schilling ◽  
Romano Wyss ◽  
Claudia Binder
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Science ◽  
Case Analysis ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
Sustainability Transition ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Fundamental Challenge ◽  
Key Dimensions

Finding ways to understand, analyze, and manage sustainability transitions is a fundamental challenge for sustainability science. In this paper, we show how we can substantially deepen our understanding of factors that determine the success of sustainability transitions by combining two key concepts from the resilience literature—stability and adaptability—with a dynamic understanding of the progress of socio-technical transitions. We propose a conceptual perspective for sustainability transitions, the resilience of sustainability transitions (RST) concept, which integrates progress, stability, and adaptability as key dimensions to comprehend the dynamics of sustainability transitions. In a case analysis of the energy transition process in the Austrian region of Weiz-Gleisdorf, we apply the concept. In doing so, we illustrate how RST thinking helps identify and understand crucial elements that influence the dynamics of a sustainability transition process.

Nonlinearity of Energy Transition in India and Implications for Sustainability Science

2016 ◽  
pp. 206-233
Author(s):  
Anandajit Goswami ◽  
Arabinda Mishra ◽  
Kaushik Bandopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Sustainability Science ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Economic Environment ◽  
Policy Discourse ◽  
Rural Energy ◽  
Econometric Methods ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Clean Cookstoves

Policy discourse on rural energy transition within developing countries approach the issue of energy transition through linearly structured, causality based models. This work aims to explore, question the authenticity of such an approach through exploring existence of non linearity in the rural energy transition process of India. Energy transition of rural households impact social, economic and environmental domains of sustainability. For instance, a switchover of a household from smoke generating mudstoves to clean cookstoves can reduce smoke generation, chance of respiratory diseases, impacting the economic, environment and social domains of sustainability. Transition to clean cookstoves can be non-linear and such a transition in a non-linear way impacts domains of sustainability. Hence this work tries to contextualize rural energy transition process through econometric methods, spatial theory of chaos. The work concludes with the exploration of non linear aspects of rural energy transition process within the local rural context and connects it to sustainability science.

scholarly journals A Literature Evaluation of Systemic Challenges Affecting the European Maritime Energy Transition

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 715
Author(s):  
Jurrit M. Bergsma ◽  
Jeroen Pruyn ◽  
Geerten van de Kaa
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Innovation System ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Developing Strategy ◽  
Economic Prosperity ◽  
Gas Emission ◽  
Global Nature ◽  
Emission Growth

Energy transition is affecting the European maritime sector at an increasing rate. New technologies and regulations are being introduced with increasing speed. The ability to adapt to these changes is crucial for the economic success of the maritime sector. However, the sector is challenged by inertia due to its global nature and long-life assets (e.g., vessels). These developments result in a globally projected greenhouse gas emission growth rather than a reduction towards 2050. The sector can be considered essential to economic prosperity, but its innovation system should align with global sustainability trends. This article aims to structure and evaluate the maritime sector’s systemic challenges by conducting an extensive systematic review of (sustainable) maritime innovation literature. These findings are structured and discussed via four key activities that support the transition process: developing strategy and policy, creating legitimacy, mobilizing resources, and developing and disseminating knowledge.

scholarly journals An inter-disciplinary approach to the energy transition in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Todd ◽  
Darren McCauley
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Static Approach ◽  
Tackle Climate Change ◽  
Fossil Fuel Industry ◽  
Energy Justice

AbstractThe compelling need to tackle climate change is well-established. It is a challenge which is being faced by all nations. This requires an approach which is truly inter-disciplinary in nature, drawing on the expertise of politicians, social scientists, and technologists. We report how the pace of the energy transition can be influenced significantly by both the operation of societal barriers, and by policy actions aimed at reducing these effects. Using the case study of South Africa, a suite of interviews has been conducted with diverse energy interests, to develop and analyse four key issues pertinent to the energy transition there. We do so primarily through the lens of delivering energy justice to that society. In doing so, we emphasise the need to monitor, model, and modify the dynamic characteristic of the energy transition process and the delivery of energy justice; a static approach which ignores the fluid nature of transition will be insufficient. We conclude that the South African fossil fuel industry is still impeding the development of the country’s renewable resources, and the price of doing so is being met by those living in townships and in rural areas.

scholarly journals Assessing Local Power Generation Potentials of Photovoltaics, Engine Cogeneration, and Heat Pumps: The Case of a Major Swiss City

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 5432
Author(s):  
Martina Crimmann ◽  
Reinhard Madlener
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
End Users ◽  
Local Power ◽  
Private Households ◽  
Industrial Energy ◽  
Electricity Costs

In this paper, we investigate the potentials of distributed generation (DG) in a medium-sized Swiss city. We show the role of private households in the sustainable energy transition process induced by Swiss energy policy. For the analysis, we define six scenarios that enable us to study the potentials and impacts of different combinations of DG technologies in terms of costs, CO2 emissions, and amounts and shares of DG provided by non-industrial end-users (essentially private households and the services sector). Three variants are investigated, one with real electricity costs and CO2 emissions, one with increased electricity costs (e.g., construction of new power plants), and one with increased CO2 emissions (e.g., due to the planned nuclear phase-out in Switzerland). We find that non-industrial entities can play an important role as prosumers. They mitigate the need for centralized generation. Within a scenario where the non-industrial energy end-users install water-water heat pumps and photovoltaics, a total reduction of the gas procurement from the grid is possible whereas the electricity demand from the grid increases by 24%. This scenario reveals higher DG electricity costs in comparison to conventional electricity supply, but the total costs of energy supply decrease due to the elimination of gas supply, and the CO2 emissions can be reduced by 68%.

scholarly journals The Impact of Financial Development On The Clean Energy Transition In MENA Region: The Role of Institutional And Political Factors.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haifa Saadaoui
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Financial Development ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This study focuses on the role of institutional factors as well as financial development in renewable energy transition in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region over the period 1990-2018 using the ARDL PMG method. The investigation of long-run and short-run analysis confirms that institutional and political factors play a key role in promoting the transition to renewable energy, and shows that improving these factors can lead to decarbonization of the energy sector in the long run. Another important finding is that global financial development does not have a significant effect on the transition process in the long run, implying that the whole financial system needs a fundamental structural change to accelerate the substitution between polluting and clean energies. However, in the short term, the impact appears to be negative and significant, highlighting the inadequacy of financial institutions and financial markets in promoting the region’s sustainable path. Moreover, income drives the transition to renewable energy in both short and long term. The causality results show that both financial development and institutional quality lead to renewable energy transition, while there is a bidirectional link between income and renewable energy.This study can provide a very useful recommendation to promote a clean transition in the MENA region.

scholarly journals Incumbents in the Transition Towards the Bioeconomy: The Role of Dynamic Capabilities and Innovation Strategies

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 5044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nhat Strøm-Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Organizational Restructuring ◽  
Meat Processing ◽  
Sustainability Transition ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
Business Dynamics ◽  
Multi Level

This study explored incumbents’ roles in the transition towards the bioeconomy by examining what goes on inside firms, what strategies they practiced, and how these affected the way incumbents engaged in the transition, as well as their ability to innovate. The study focused on the Norwegian meat-processing sector, investigating how dynamic capabilities affected incumbent firms in the transition process, and the management strategies adopted in response to external pressures (local and global) and to innovation opportunities. The analytical approach builds on two theoretical pillars: Multi-level perspective and dynamic capabilities. The findings showed that the incumbent exercised different modes of behavior—first-into-niche and follow-into-niche—in response to innovation pathways during the transition, mobilizing various dynamic capabilities—learning, financing, and organizational restructuring. The study sheds light on the underlying business dynamics of incumbent firms within a given regime and on intra-regime dynamics concerning innovation opportunities, and notes the proactive roles of incumbents in the sustainability transition.

scholarly journals Sustainability Transition towards a Biobased Economy: Defining, Measuring and Assessing

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piergiuseppe Morone
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Guest Editor ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Logical Framework ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Measurement Issues ◽  
Sustainability Transition ◽  
Biobased Economy

This Special Issue proposes an array of 11 key papers aimed at investigating the complex and multifaceted nature of the biobased economy, focusing both on a conceptual understanding of the transition and on the measurement issues associated to it. More specifically, collected papers can be broadly divided in two groups: (1) those aiming at adding to our understanding of the transition process towards a sustainable biobased economy; and (2) those aiming at adding to the definition and measurement of the emerging sustainable biobased economy. In the guest editor view, papers collected in this Special Issue offer valuable and complementary insights to our understanding of the ongoing transition towards a biobased economy, providing a logical framework to understand the transitions, as well as an overview of existing tools to assess and measure it. Ideally, policy makers will benefit from the papers included in this Special Issue and, hopefully, it will contribute to make a further step to the much-needed transition towards sustainability.

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