Publications

@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{Renner2020a,

title = {Socio-technical discourses of European electricity decarbonization: Contesting narrative credibility and legitimacy with quantitative story-telling},

author = {Ansel Renner and Mario Giampietro},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2214629619302968},

doi = {10.1016/j.erss.2019.101279},

issn = {22146296},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-01-01},

journal = {Energy Research & Social Science},

volume = {59},

pages = {101279},

abstract = {This paper presents an innovative approach to the responsible use of quantitative analysis when dealing with the governance of sustainability. Rather than using complicated models which try to predict and control the future evolution of complex adaptive systems, quantitative story-telling is proposed to check, first of all, the plausibility of proposed policies. As a case study, we check the plausibility of ‘a radical decarbonization of the European economy based on a quick deployment of alternative sources of electrical energy generation'. Although our case study includes a high-level set of quantitative results, it is primarily methodological. The procedure of quantitative story-telling includes: (1) identification of the narratives used to inform policy; (2) identification of the relevant factors determining the feasibility, viability and desirability of expected results; (3) a quantitative analysis which falsifies at least one of these three factors, indicating an implausibility of the expected results; and (4) identification of knowledge gaps in the existing discussions over the issue. The modern European energy system does need an urgent and radical transformation. However, before imposing drastic and ambitious policies, it is essential to check the quality of the diagnosis. Our analysis flags the existence of a few reasons for concern with regard to the current story-telling.},

keywords = {Complexity, Electricity, Quantitative story-telling, Renewable energy, Storage},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Serrano-Tovar2019,

title = {Structuring an integrated water-energy-food nexus assessment of a local wind energy desalination system for irrigation},

author = {T. Serrano-Tovar and Baltasar Pe\~{n}ate Su\'{a}rez and Ana Musicki and Juan A. Fuente Bencomo and Violeta Cabello and M. Giampietro},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.422},

doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.422},

issn = {18791026},

year  = {2019},

date = {2019-01-01},

journal = {Science of the Total Environment},

volume = {689},

pages = {945--957},

publisher = {The Authors},

abstract = {Desalination is increasingly put forward as a sustainable local solution to water scarcity in combination with the exploitation of renewable energy sources. However, the complexity of the resource nexus entails the unavoidable existence of pros and cons across its various dimensions that can only be assessed at different scales of analysis. In turn, these pros and cons entail different winners and losers among the different social actors linked through the nexus. To address these challenges, a novel approach to resource nexus assessment is put forward, based on multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism (MuSIASEM) and recognizing the resource nexus as a wicked problem. The integrated representation identifies the existence of biophysical constraints determined by processes both under human control (in the technosphere) and beyond human control (in the biosphere). The approach is illustrated with a local case study of desalination in the Canary Islands, Spain. The material presented has been generated in the context of the project “Moving towards adaptive governance in complexity: Informing nexus security” (MAGIC) for use in participatory processes of co-production of knowledge claims about desalination, a prerequisite for informed policy deliberation.},

keywords = {Canary Islands, Desalination, MuSIASEM, Renewable energy, WEF nexus, Wicked problem},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}