Descripción del proyecto
Evaluar la viabilidad de las soluciones energéticas con bajas emisiones de carbono
La descarbonización del sistema eléctrico requiere tecnologías que ya están disponibles comercialmente. Pueden desplegarse con la suficiente rapidez y a una escala lo suficientemente grande como para desplazar a los combustibles fósiles y cumplir los objetivos climáticos. Sin embargo, no existe ningún método científico para evaluar si estos escenarios son factibles, dadas las diversas limitaciones sociopolíticas del mundo real. El proyecto MANIFEST, financiado con fondos europeos, está desarrollando nuevos conocimientos científicos sobre la viabilidad sociopolítica de la mitigación del cambio climático que tienen en cuenta el contexto, los agentes y los cambios a lo largo del tiempo. El trabajo del proyecto proporcionará un marco dinámico a través del cual se podrá evaluar la viabilidad de las soluciones nacionales y globales para mitigar el cambio climático, acelerando así su adopción.
Objetivo
The technologies needed to decarbonize the electricity system are already commercially available. There are mathematical models of how these technologies can be deployed sufficiently fast and at a large enough scale to displace fossil fuels to meet climate targets. Yet there is no scientific method to evaluate whether these scenarios are feasible given the real world’s socio-political constraints. MANIFEST develops a new scientific understanding of socio-political feasibility of climate change mitigation that takes into account the context, actors and change over time. Theoretically, MANIFEST combines a definition of socio-political feasibility from political philosophy with the concept of causal mechanisms of energy transitions. Thus, I shift the thinking about the feasibility of climate change mitigation from its current focus on barriers and enablers to a dynamic and context sensitive view with space for actors and agency. Empirically, I focus on transitions in electricity supply including the expansion of low-carbon electricity and coal phase-out. I explore three areas which are critical for the feasibility of decarbonisation of electricity: (i) the role and capacities of international suppliers of electricity technologies, (ii) the competition between electricity technologies at the early stages of their introduction in emerging economies, and (iii) factors shaping the growth of low-carbon technologies and under what conditions they substitute carbon-intensive ones. Methodologically, I develop a new approach to assess the feasibility of climate solutions by constructing dynamic feasibility spaces which are a function of paths, contexts and actors. I test this approach by analysing national low-carbon electricity targets to determine whether states plan to accelerate decarbonisation beyond the current feasibility frontier. This dynamic feasibility space is a breakthrough in assessing the feasibility of national and global climate change mitigation solutions.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsfossil energycoal
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- humanitiesphilosophy, ethics and religionphilosophypolitical philosophy
- natural sciencesmathematicsapplied mathematicsmathematical model
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitución de acogida
412 96 GOTEBORG
Suecia