Publications

@article{Manfroni2021a,

title = {The profile of time allocation in the metabolic pattern of society: An internal biophysical limit to economic growth},

author = {Michele Manfroni and Ra\'{u}l Velasco-Fern\'{a}ndez and Laura P\'{e}rez-S\'{a}nchez and Sandra G. F. Bukkens and Mario Giampietro},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S092180092100241X},

doi = {10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107183},

issn = {09218009},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-12-01},

journal = {Ecological Economics},

volume = {190},

pages = {107183},

abstract = {We show that shortage of human activity may represent an internal constraint to economic growth as relevant as external resource and sink constraints. Human time is required, both inside and outside the market, to produce and consume the goods and services needed to sustain societal metabolism. The time allocation profile is therefore an emergent property of the societal metabolic pattern. When most time is invested in services and final consumption rather than supplying the inputs required by the metabolic process, further growth is constrained. This problem may be temporarily overcome by three strategies: (i) increasing capital investment to boost labor productivity in the productive sectors; (ii) externalizing the requirement of working hours through imports of goods and services; (iii) importing economically active population through immigration. Each strategy is illustrated with an empirical example: (i) a comparison of the evolution of the profile of time and capital allocation between China and the EU; (ii) an assessment of the labor hours embodied in EU imports; (iii) an analysis of demographic changes in response to immigration in Spain. While these strategies can temporarily overcome constraints to economic growth at the national level, they do not represent a long-term solution at the global level.},

keywords = {Energy, Human activity, MuSIASEM, Social practices, Societal metabolism, sustainability, Sustainable production and consumption},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Harder2021,

title = {Assessing the circularity of nutrient flows related to the food system in the Okanagan bioregion, BC Canada.},

author = {Robin Harder and Mario Giampietro and Kent Mullinix and Sean Smukler},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0921344921004511},

doi = {10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105842},

issn = {09213449},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-11-01},

journal = {Resources, Conservation and Recycling},

volume = {174},

pages = {105842},

publisher = {Elsevier},

abstract = {The “circular bioeconomy” is extensively discussed in science and policy, and its implementation in practice is considered to be a panacea for fixing many current sustainability problems. The circular bioeconomy crucially depends on biological and technical processes capable of recycling nutrients in the right mix, at the right pace, and using only renewable energy. The current lack of circularity of nutrient flows is a critical factor that hampers sustainable food and bioeconomy systems. If we are serious about the sustainability of food and bioeconomy systems, we have to develop more robust tools to study (diagnose) and explore (simulate) the factors determining the circularity of nutrient flows. This paper applies a novel analytical framework to assess the circularity of nutrient flows in modern food systems. This framework can help understand the potentialities of proposed changes in relation to reducing nutrient losses and the dependence on nutrients mined from finite deposits. More specifically, in this paper, we illustrate a quantitative assessment of the flows of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium in a case study \textendash the food system of the Okanagan bioregion in BC Canada. Our study suggests that the proposed approach is effective to inform nutrient management policies in bioregional food systems. In particular, an assessment of the openness of nutrient flows flags the importance of managing organic residuals for comprehensive nutrient recovery and reuse \textendash an activity that is still often systematically neglected due to large feed and food imports and the availability of cheap synthetic fertilizers. This type of analysis is essential if we want to develop effective policies for more sustainable management of nutrients in food and bioeconomy systems.},

keywords = {Agriculture, Circularity, Feed and food trade, Food systems, Nutrient flows, System openness},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Matthews2021,

title = {Old Wine in New Bottles: Exploiting Data from the EU's Farm Accountancy Data Network for Pan-EU Sustainability Assessments of Agricultural Production Systems},

author = {Keith B. Matthews and Ansel Renner and Kirsty L. Blackstock and Kerry A. Waylen and Dave G. Miller and Doug H. Wardell-Johnson and Alba Juarez-Bourke and Juan Cadillo-Benalcazar and Joep F. Schyns and Mario Giampietro},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10080/htm https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10080},

doi = {10.3390/su131810080},

issn = {2071-1050},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-01},

journal = {Sustainability},

volume = {13},

number = {18},

pages = {10080},

publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute},

abstract = {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.},

keywords = {common agricultural policy, Energy, FADN, food nexus, Societal metabolism, sustainability, Water},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{DiFelice2021,

title = {Why should the EU implement electric vehicles? Viewing the relationship between evidence and dominant policy solutions through the lens of complexity},

author = {Louisa Jane Di Felice and Ansel Renner and Mario Giampietro},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1462901121001222},

doi = {10.1016/j.envsci.2021.05.002},

issn = {14629011},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-01},

journal = {Environmental Science & Policy},

volume = {123},

pages = {1--10},

publisher = {Elsevier},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Harder2021a,

title = {Towards a circular nutrient economy. A novel way to analyze the circularity of nutrient flows in food systems},

author = {Robin Harder and Mario Giampietro and Sean Smukler},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0921344921003025},

doi = {10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105693},

issn = {09213449},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-01},

journal = {Resources, Conservation and Recycling},

volume = {172},

pages = {105693},

publisher = {Elsevier},

abstract = {Recent years have seen a steep rise in the interest in nutrient circularity. In the context of food systems and waste management, nutrient circularity seems to generally encompass the reduction of nutrient losses and increased recovery of nutrients from various organic residual streams for reuse in agricultural production. Many studies that aim to contribute to improving nutrient circularity in food systems have limited the analysis to a given geographical area. But nutrient circularity likely looks different when the analysis includes what happens outside the borders of the considered area. This paper presents and discusses an analytical framework that allows for the analysis of nutrient circularity not only inside a given geographical area being considered, but also in those parts of the global food system with which the local food system interacts in terms of feed and food trade. This framework explicitly characterizes the impact of system openness associated with feed and food trade. This enables: (i) a separate discussion of four possible interpretations of nutrient circularity \textendash internal and external input and output circularity; and (ii) an analysis of how these four circularity indicators relate to one another depending on system openness. The proposed analysis can thus reveal the extent to which a high level of nutrient circularity in the considered area comes at the cost of a decreased level of nutrient circularity in the places with which feed and food are traded, or vice versa.},

keywords = {Agriculture, Bioeconomy, Circularity, Feed and food trade, Nutrient flows, System openness},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Manfroni2021,

title = {The declining performance of the oil sector: Implications for global climate change mitigation},

author = {Michele Manfroni and Sandra G. F. Bukkens and Mario Giampietro},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0306261921006346},

doi = {10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117210},

issn = {03062619},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-01},

journal = {Applied Energy},

volume = {298},

pages = {117210},

abstract = {This article presents a relational analysis of the performance of the petroleum sector in the context of climate change mitigation. The oil sector is described as a complex network of transformations carried out by structural and functional elements, exploiting different types of crude oils. Energy carrier requirements and emissions of viable sequential pathways of extraction and refining are assessed and scaled across different levels of organization, using the concept of metabolic processor. Based on the analysis of seventy-one oil fields around the world - about 25% of global production - we provide a diagnostic analysis of the current state and explore possible scenarios simulating the progressive aging of conventional oil sources and an increasing exploitation of unconventional crudes. Results show how future oil exploitation will be more energy intensive, entailing an increase of emissions per barrel in the range of 6\textendash26% over the baseline, depending on the simulation. Under the existing policy frameworks and international pledges, this increase will translate into an amount of extra CO2 comparable to entire European economic sectors. Implications of our findings for future energy policies are discussed and the need to complement Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) with more robust methodologies is emphasized. It is concluded that the declining performance of the oil sector could potentially undermine the plausibility of global low-carbon aspirations.},

keywords = {Climate change mitigation, CO2 emissions, Fossil transition, Oil depletion, Relational analysis, Unconventional oils},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Cabello2021,

title = {Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands},

author = {Violeta Cabello and David Romero and Ana Musicki and \^{A}ngela Guimar\~{a}es Pereira and Baltasar Pe\~{n}ate},

url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-021-00933-y https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11625-021-00933-y},

doi = {10.1007/s11625-021-00933-y},

issn = {1862-4065},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-07-01},

journal = {Sustainability Science},

volume = {16},

number = {4},

pages = {1363--1374},

publisher = {Springer},

abstract = {The literature on the water\textendashenergy\textendashfood nexus has repeatedly signaled the need for transdisciplinary approaches capable of weaving the plurality of knowledge bodies involved in the governance of different resources. To fill this gap, Quantitative Story-Telling (QST) has been proposed as a science for adaptive governance approach that aims at fostering pluralistic and reflexive research processes to overcome narrow framings of water, energy, and food policies as independent domains. Yet, there are few practical applications of QST and most run on a pan-European scale. In this paper, we apply the theory of QST through a practical case study regarding non-conventional water sources as an innovation for water and agricultural governance in the Canary Islands. We present the methods mixed to mobilize different types of knowledge and analyze interconnections between water, energy, and food supply. First, we map and interview relevant knowledge holders to elicit narratives about the current and future roles of alternative water resources in the arid Canarian context. Second, we run a quantitative diagnosis of nexus interconnections related to the use of these resources for irrigation. This analysis provides feedback to the narratives in terms of constraints and uncertainties that might hamper the expectations posed on this innovation. Thirdly, the mixed analysis is used as fuel for discussion in participatory narrative assessment workshops. Our experimental QST process succeeded in co-creating new knowledge regarding the water\textendashenergy\textendashfood nexus while addressing some relational and epistemological uncertainties in the development of alternative water resources. Yet, the extent to which mainstream socio-technical imaginaries surrounding this innovation were transformed was rather limited. We conclude that the potential of QST within sustainability place-based research resides on its capacity to: (a) bridge different sources of knowledge, including local knowledge; (b) combine both qualitative and quantitative information regarding the sustainable use of local resources, and (c) co-create narratives on desirable and viable socio-technical pathways. Open questions remain as to how to effectively mobilize radically diverse knowledge systems in complex analytical exercises where everyone feels safe to participate.},

keywords = {Climate Change Management and Policy, Environmental Economics, Environmental Management, Landscape Ecology, Public Health, Sustainable Development},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Toboso-Chavero2021,

title = {Incorporating user preferences in rooftop food-energy-water production through integrated sustainability assessment *},

author = {Susana Toboso-Chavero and Cristina Madrid-L\'{o}pez and Xavier Gabarrell Durany and Gara Villalba},

url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7620/abffa5 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7620/abffa5/meta},

doi = {10.1088/2515-7620/abffa5},

issn = {2515-7620},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-06-01},

journal = {Environmental Research Communications},

volume = {3},

number = {6},

pages = {065001},

publisher = {IOP Publishing},

abstract = {With the overall aim to design successful implementation strategies of food-energy-water production systems on urban roofs, we propose an integrated process that includes participatory processes and a multi-dimensional sustainability assessment of environmental, social and economic indicators. The proposed framework was applied to a typical housing estate in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona made up of 201 buildings and 13,466 inhabitants and characterized by a high share of low-income families. We assess several future scenarios of joint electricity production (photovoltaic panels), vegetable production (through open-air farming and greenhouses), green roof implementation and rainwater harvesting and rank them according to non-participatory and participatory approaches. In general, there was a tendency for residents to choose strategies providing energy and water rather than the food production potential of rooftops. However, the environmental assessment indicated that the least impacting alternatives from a life cycle approach were those promoting vegetable production, meeting 42 to 56% of the residents' fresh produce demand and reducing environmental impacts by 24 to 37 kg CO2eq m−2 of rooftop/year. Hence, we found that residents were mainly concerned with energy expenses and not so much with food insecurity, social cohesion or the impacts of long-distance supply chains. Our assessment supports urban sustainability and helps identify and breach the gap between scientific and user preferences in urban environmental proposals by informing and educating residents through a participatory integrated assessment.},

keywords = {Citizen science, Energy and water poverty, Farm to fork, Public participation, urban agriculture, Urban sustainability},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Langemeyer2021,

title = {Urban agriculture \textemdash A necessary pathway towards urban resilience and global sustainability?},

author = {Johannes Langemeyer and Cristina Madrid-Lopez and Angelica Mendoza Beltran and Gara Villalba Mendez},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0169204621000189},

doi = {10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104055},

issn = {01692046},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-06-01},

journal = {Landscape and Urban Planning},

volume = {210},

pages = {104055},

publisher = {Elsevier},

abstract = {The Covid-19 pandemic newly brings food resilience in cities to our attention and the need to question the desired degree of food self-sufficiency through urban agriculture. While these questions are by no means new and periodically entering the global research focus and policy discussions during periods of crises \textemdash the last time during the global financial crisis and resulting food price increases in 2008 \textemdash urban and peri-urban agriculture continue to be replaced by land-uses rendering higher market values (e.g. housing, transport, leisure). The loss of priority for urban agriculture in urban land-use planning is a global trend with only a few exceptions. We argue in this essay that this development has widely taken place due to three blind spots in urban planning. First, the limited consideration of social and ecological vulnerabilities and risk-related inequalities of urban inhabitants, food shortage among them, in the face of different scenarios of global change, including climate change or pandemic events such as Covid-19. Second, the disregard of the intensified negative environmental (and related social) externalities caused by distant agricultural production, as well as lacking consideration of nutrient re-cycling potentials in cities (e.g. from wastewater) to replace emission intensive mineral fertilizer use. Third, the lack of accounting for the multifunctionality of urban agriculture and the multiple benefits it provides beyond the provision of food, including social benefits and insurance values, for instance the maintenance of cultural heritage and agro-biodiversity. Along these lines, we argue that existing and new knowledge about urban risks and vulnerabilities, the spatially explicit urban metabolism (e.g. energy, water, nutrients), as well as ecosystem services need to be stronger and jointly considered in land-use decision-making.},

keywords = {Ecosystem services, Environmental externalities, Food resilience, urban agriculture, Urban metabolism},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ripa2021a,

title = {Cutting through the biofuel confusion: A conceptual framework to check the feasibility, viability and desirability of biofuels},

author = {M. Ripa and J. J. Cadillo-Benalcazar and M. Giampietro},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2211467X21000286},

doi = {10.1016/j.esr.2021.100642},

issn = {2211467X},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-05-01},

journal = {Energy Strategy Reviews},

volume = {35},

pages = {100642},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Torrente-Velasquez2021,

title = {Identification of inference fallacies in solid waste generation estimations of developing countries. A case-study in Panama},

author = {Jorge M. Torrente-Vel\'{a}squez and Maddalena Ripa and Rosaria Chifari and Mario Giampietro},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0956053X21001793},

doi = {10.1016/j.wasman.2021.03.037},

issn = {0956053X},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-05-01},

journal = {Waste Management},

volume = {126},

pages = {454--465},

publisher = {Pergamon},

abstract = {The absence of sound sampling procedures and statistical analyses to estimate solid waste generation in many developing countries has resulted in incomplete historical records of waste quantity and composition. Data is often arbitrarily aggregated or disaggregated as a function of waste generators to obtain results at the desired spatial level of analysis. Inference fallacies arising from the generalization or individualization of results are almost never considered. In this paper, Panama, one of the fastest-growing developing countries, was used as a case-study to review the main methodological approaches to estimate solid waste generation per capita per day, and at different hierarchical levels (from households to the country). The solid waste generation intensity indicator is used by the Panamanian waste management authority to run the waste management system. It was also the main parameter employed by local and foreign companies to estimate solid waste generation in Panama between 2001 and 2008. The methodological approaches used by these companies were mathematically formalized and classified as per the expressions suggested by Subramanian et al. (2009). Seven inference fallacies (ecological, individualistic, stage, floating population, linear forecasting, average population and mixed spatial levels) were identified and allocated to the studies. Foreign companies committed three of the seven inference fallacies, while one was committed by the local entity. Endogenous knowledge played an important role in these studies to avoid spatial levels mismatch and multilevel measurements appear to produce more reliable information than studies obtained via other means.},

keywords = {Developing countries, Estimation, Inference fallacies, Meta-analysis, Multilevel analysis, Panama, Solid waste generation intensity},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Pansera2021,

title = {Politicising Circular Economy: what can we learn from Responsible Innovation?},

author = {Mario Pansera and Andrea Genovese and Maddalena Ripa},

url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23299460.2021.1923315 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23299460.2021.1923315},

doi = {10.1080/23299460.2021.1923315},

issn = {2329-9460},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-05-01},

journal = {Journal of Responsible Innovation},

pages = {1--7},

publisher = {Routledge},

abstract = {The ‘Circular Economy' has become a new buzzword in debates about sustainability. Circularity, however, is usually presented in terms of scientific and technological challenges that often neglect t...},

keywords = {Circular economy, Environmental justice, Responsible Innovation, stakeholders engagement},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Renner2021a,

title = {The dual nature of money: why monetary systems matter for equitable bioeconomy},

author = {Ansel Renner and Herman Daly and Kozo Mayumi},

url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10018-021-00309-7 https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10018-021-00309-7},

doi = {10.1007/s10018-021-00309-7},

issn = {1432-847X},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-04-01},

journal = {Environmental Economics and Policy Studies},

pages = {1--12},

publisher = {Springer},

abstract = {Money can be understood from an individual perspective as an abstract form of wealth. From a communal perspective, however, money is better regarded as a debt, a biophysical liability, a lien on future real income of the community. Proper recognition of this dual nature raises concerns over modern, aggressive practices of money creation. It provokes a general reassessment of current institutional agreements surrounding money. In this contribution, said agreements are shown to endow money with an unnatural power to preserve its function despite structural decay. The origin of money interest derives from such institutionally given, unnatural power, where it should be noted that interest itself leads to a strong temptation among entities with money issuance rights to issue more and more. Ultimately, considered together, the dual nature of money and the biophysical origin of money interest provoke the need for a societal reappraisal of which entities should properly be given the right to create money, and which are functioning as “legal counterfeiters”. If a transition towards a more sustainable, more equitable bioeconomy is to be realized one day, discussion over who those entities are and what their rightful role is must be reopened.},

keywords = {Environmental Economics, Social Policy},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Santagata2021,

title = {Food waste recovery pathways: Challenges and opportunities for an emerging bio-based circular economy. A systematic review and an assessment},

author = {R. Santagata and M. Ripa and A. Genovese and S. Ulgiati},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0959652620355360},

doi = {10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125490},

issn = {09596526},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-03-01},

journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production},

volume = {286},

pages = {125490},

publisher = {Elsevier},

abstract = {The transition towards a Circular Economy in the agri-food supply chain will require appropriate support mechanisms. Globally, 1/3 of food is wasted, generating by-products which could be treated and processed. In a bioeconomy perspective, qualitatively and quantitatively assessing the availability of secondary raw materials and classifying the different conversion systems is crucial for the transition to happen. For this reason, a literature review of food waste conversion pathways, and related trade-offs and opportunities, has been carried out. Ecological performances of EU28 food waste treatment processes have been assessed through Life Cycle Assessment and Emergy Accounting methods, providing information from a donor and a consumer side perspectives for supporting policies. The added value of this work is the commixture of the analysis of food waste recovery and recycle pathways, their environmental assessment and the indication of opportunities and constraints. A conversion pathways database has been generated and classified. A major interest towards recovery of mixed food waste and biological type of conversion processes is highlighted. The main identified opportunities are the reduced environmental pressure and better management of resources, the avoided loss of economic value and the generation of work opportunities, as well as conditioning stakeholders' behaviors. On the other hand, it is highlighted that bad management of food waste can pose a threat on human health. The planning of these processes must carefully acknowledge local characteristics.},

keywords = {Bioeconomy, Circular economy, Emergy Accounting, Food waste, LCA},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{TobosoChavero2021,

title = {More than the sum of the parts: System analysis of the usability of roofs in housing estates},

author = {Susana Toboso‐Chavero and Gara Villalba and Xavier Gabarrell Durany and Cristina Madrid‐L\'{o}pez},

url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jiec.13114 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jiec.13114 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jiec.13114},

doi = {10.1111/jiec.13114},

issn = {1088-1980},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-03-01},

journal = {Journal of Industrial Ecology},

pages = {jiec.13114},

publisher = {John Wiley & Sons, Ltd},

abstract = {Housing estates, that is, mass social housing on middle- and high-rise apartment blocks, in urban areas are found all over the world with very similar constructive patterns and a multiplicity of environmental and socio-economic problems. In this regard, such areas are optimal for the implementation of a roof mosaic which involves applying a combination of urban farming, solar energy, and harvesting rainwater systems (decentralized systems) on unoccupied roofs. To design sustainable and productive roof mosaic scenarios, we develop an integrated framework through a multi-scale (municipality, building, and household) and multi-dimensional analysis (environmental and socio-economic, structural, and functional) to optimize the supply of essential resources (food, energy, and water). The proposed workflow was applied to a housing estate to rehabilitate unused rooftops (66,433 m2). First, using the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism methodology, we determined metabolic rates across buildings and municipality levels, which did not vary significantly (12.60\textendash14.50 g/h for vegetables, 0.82\textendash1.11 MJ/h for electricity, 0.80\textendash1.11 MJ/h for heating, and 5.62\textendash6.59 L/h for water). Second, based on a participatory process involving stakeholders to qualitatively analyze potential scenarios further in terms of preferences, five scenarios were chosen. These rooftop scenarios were found to improve the resource self-sufficiency of housing estate residents by providing 42\textendash53% of their vegetable consumption, 9\textendash35% of their electricity use, and 38\textendash200% of their water needs depending on the scenario. Boosting new urban spaces of resource production involves citizens in sites which face social and economic needs. This article met the requirements for a gold-gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.},

keywords = {industrial ecology, rainwater harvesting, Renewable energy, roof mosaic, urban agriculture, Urban metabolism},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Perez-Sanchez2021,

title = {The international division of labor and embodied working time in trade for the US, the EU and China},

author = {Laura P\'{e}rez-S\'{a}nchez and Ra\'{u}l Velasco-Fern\'{a}ndez and Mario Giampietro},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S092180092032200X},

doi = {10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106909},

issn = {09218009},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-02-01},

journal = {Ecological Economics},

volume = {180},

pages = {106909},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ripa2021,

title = {The energy metabolism of post-industrial economies. A framework to account for externalization across scales},

author = {M. Ripa and L. J. Di Felice and M. Giampietro},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0360544220320508},

doi = {10.1016/j.energy.2020.118943},

issn = {03605442},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-01-01},

journal = {Energy},

volume = {214},

pages = {118943},

abstract = {Post-industrial societies heavily rely on the consumption of embodied energy for their activities \textendash i.e., energy invested elsewhere to produce what is imported and consumed (or re-exported). The openness of the energy sector poses modelling challenges, calling for multi-scale, integrated analytical frames. We propose a methodology grounded in societal metabolism aimed at analysing the behaviour of a system (where the system may be a region, a country, a continent, etc.). We make the distinction between three types of scales necessary to contextualize the behaviour of the energy sector within a globalized economy: the macroscope, the mesoscope and the microscope. The methodology is applied to analyze the energy sector of EU19 countries, considering internal and external labour, primary energy sources, energy carriers and GHG emissions. The results show that imported primary energy sources and energy carriers within the EU19 are associated with externalized pressures and impacts. For example, accounting for the externalized carbon emissions of the energy sector raises total GHG emissions of the sector by 60% on EU average. This has implications for the assessment of the effectiveness of global sustainability policies. By not accounting for externalized effects, energy models can miss relevant information about the interactions among systems.},

keywords = {Energy sector, Externalization, Multi-scale analysis, MuSIASEM, Societal metabolism},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Diaconescu2021,

title = {Exogenous coordination in multi-scale systems: How information flows and timing affect system properties},

author = {Ada Diaconescu and Louisa Jane Di Felice and Patricia Mellodge},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0167739X20304726},

doi = {10.1016/j.future.2020.07.034},

issn = {0167739X},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-01-01},

journal = {Future Generation Computer Systems},

volume = {114},

pages = {403--426},

publisher = {North-Holland},

abstract = {The architecture of coordination mechanisms is central to the performance and behaviour of (self-)integrated systems across natural, socio-technical and cyber\textendashphysical domains. Multi-scale coordination schemes are prevalent in large-scale systems with bounded performance requirements and limited resource constraints. However, theories to formalise how coordination can be implemented across multi-scale systems are often domain-specific, lacking generic, reusable principles. In these systems, feedback among system entities is a key component to coordination. Building on theories of hierarchies and complexity, in previous work we formalised Multi-Scale Abstraction Feedbacks (MSAF) as a design pattern to describe the architecture of feedback across system scales, highlighting the role played by micro-entities and macro-entities, as well as their interconnections. Focusing on exogenous coordination, this paper refines the MSAF pattern, describing a feedback cycle across scales as one where information flows bottom-up and top-down through five actions: state information communication, state information abstraction, information processing, control information communication, and adaptation from control information. Abstracted state information at each scale is processed with control input from the scale above and provides control input to the scale below. Using the example of distributed task allocation through exogenous coordination, NetLogo simulations are implemented to analyse the impact that different exogenous coordination strategies, and their internal timing configurations, have on resource consumption and on convergence performance. The experimental insights and refinement of the MSAF pattern contribute to a general theory of multi-scale feedback and adaptation. This architectural pattern and associated analysis and evaluation tools are still developing, but offer a concrete basis for further expansion, improvement, and implementation, while addressing questions that are at the core of the behaviour of multi-scale systems.},

keywords = {Complex system, Control feedback, Hierarchy Theory, Information flows, Multi-scale coordination, Resource analysis, State abstraction},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}