Steady state of energy: Feedbacks and leverages for promoting or preventing sustainable energy system development

• Published in: Energy policy Vol. 120; pp. 121 - 131
• Main Authors: Gladkykh, Ganna, Spittler, Nathalie, Davíðsdóttir, Brynhildur, Diemer, Arnaud
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-09-2018; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Causality; Conceptual analysis; Disability adjusted life years; Donella Meadows; Economic theory; Embedded systems; Energy; Energy demand; Energy development; Energy efficiency; Energy policy; Herman Daly; Leverage; Leverage points; Meadows; Renewable energy; Side effects; Steady state; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Sustainable energy; Sustainable energy system; Systems development; Welfare; Donella Meadows; Sustainable energy system; Leverage points; Steady state; Sustainability; Herman Daly
• ISSN: 0301-4215; 1873-6777
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.04.070

While energy demand has been growing over the last few decades and is projected to keep expanding, the current energy system is pushing biophysical source and sink limits. At the same time, growing demand for energy globally is associated with an expansion of welfare. To avoid undesired environmental and social implications of energy developments in the long run, a systemic understanding of the dynamics promoting or preventing sustainable energy development is needed. Departing from Daly's steady state economics theory, this study conceptualizes a sustainable energy system using a systems thinking approach. Efficiency increase, the central element of Daly's theory, defined as the service/throughput ratio, is put in the center of a conceptual analysis of a sustainable energy system and is carefully scrutinized. Meadows’ leverage points concept is used to facilitate an analysis of different policies that aim at promoting sustainable energy system development. This study concludes that energy policies always need to be explored as part of the broader causality structure into which they are embedded. Otherwise, their impacts on other variables in the system may be overlooked, such as in the case of efficiency increase, which is shown to have undesired side effects for the development of a sustainable energy system.
•Daly's steady state theory is useful for envisioning a sustainable energy system.•Exploring feedbacks between policies can help sustainable energy system development.•Energy efficiency and renewable oriented policies can put pressure on the environment.•Current energy policies correspond to lower impact leverages.•Sufficiency and a just energy system as the goal can be of high leverage globally.