Publications
Between theory and quantification: An integrated analysis of metabolic patterns of informal urban settlements Journal Article
Kovacic, Zora; Giampietro, Mario
In: Energy Policy, 100 , pp. 377–386, 2017, ISSN: 03014215.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Brazil, Complexity, Energy poverty, Slums, Societal metabolism, South Africa
@article{Kovacic2017b,
title = {Between theory and quantification: An integrated analysis of metabolic patterns of informal urban settlements},
author = {Zora Kovacic and Mario Giampietro},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0301421516303524},
doi = {10.1016/j.enpol.2016.06.047},
issn = {03014215},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
journal = {Energy Policy},
volume = {100},
pages = {377--386},
publisher = {Elsevier},
abstract = {As informal urban settlements grow in size and population across the developing world, the issue of how to design and implement effective policies to provide for the needs and the aspirations of dwellers becomes ever more pressing. This paper addresses the challenge of how to characterise in quantitative terms the complex and fast-changing phenomenon of informal urban settlements without falling into oversimplification and a narrow focus on the material deficits of informal settlements. Energy policies are taken as an example to illustrate the shortcomings of oversimplification in producing policy relevant information. We adopt a semantically open representation of informal settlements that can capture the diversity of adaptive strategies used by different settlement typologies, based on the societal metabolism approach. Results show that as settlements grow in size and complexity, they remain economically and politically marginalised and fail to integrate into the city. We argue that in the case of energy policy, the analysis must go beyond the definition of problems such as access to energy at the level of the individual, and focus on a multi-scale assessment including the household and community levels studying the capacity of the household to increase it energy throughput through exosomatic devices and infrastructure.},
keywords = {Brazil, Complexity, Energy poverty, Slums, Societal metabolism, South Africa},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
As informal urban settlements grow in size and population across the developing world, the issue of how to design and implement effective policies to provide for the needs and the aspirations of dwellers becomes ever more pressing. This paper addresses the challenge of how to characterise in quantitative terms the complex and fast-changing phenomenon of informal urban settlements without falling into oversimplification and a narrow focus on the material deficits of informal settlements. Energy policies are taken as an example to illustrate the shortcomings of oversimplification in producing policy relevant information. We adopt a semantically open representation of informal settlements that can capture the diversity of adaptive strategies used by different settlement typologies, based on the societal metabolism approach. Results show that as settlements grow in size and complexity, they remain economically and politically marginalised and fail to integrate into the city. We argue that in the case of energy policy, the analysis must go beyond the definition of problems such as access to energy at the level of the individual, and focus on a multi-scale assessment including the household and community levels studying the capacity of the household to increase it energy throughput through exosomatic devices and infrastructure.
Aragão, Amanda; Giampietro, Mario
In: Energy, 115 , pp. 1412–1423, 2016, ISSN: 03605442.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Brazil, energy system, Integrated assessment, MuSIASEM, Natural gas, Oil
@article{Aragao2016,
title = {An integrated multi-scale approach to assess the performance of energy systems illustrated with data from the Brazilian oil and natural gas sector},
author = {Amanda Arag\~{a}o and Mario Giampietro},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0360544216308325},
doi = {10.1016/j.energy.2016.06.058},
issn = {03605442},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-11-01},
journal = {Energy},
volume = {115},
pages = {1412--1423},
abstract = {We apply Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) to the performance of society's energy system, and illustrate our approach with data from the Brazilian oil and natural gas sector. Key features of MuSIASEM include the multi-scale property and use of grammars. The former builds on a dual definition of the energy system: functional components or (sub)sectors are described as aggregate energy flows (extensive variables) using top-down information from statistics, while structural components (plants, technologies) are described as unitary operations (intensive variables). Integrating descriptions, we can scale information across the energy system's complex hierarchical organization. Use of an energy grammar mandates the pre-analytical definition of accounting categories, primary energy sources and energy carriers; thermal (e.g., fuels) and mechanical energy (e.g., electricity), and a set of expected relations over the different energy forms. Our preliminary analysis shows that MuSIASEM effectively describes the required investment of energy carriers (in quantity and quality) and other production factors, such as labor, in society's energy sector.},
keywords = {Brazil, energy system, Integrated assessment, MuSIASEM, Natural gas, Oil},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We apply Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) to the performance of society's energy system, and illustrate our approach with data from the Brazilian oil and natural gas sector. Key features of MuSIASEM include the multi-scale property and use of grammars. The former builds on a dual definition of the energy system: functional components or (sub)sectors are described as aggregate energy flows (extensive variables) using top-down information from statistics, while structural components (plants, technologies) are described as unitary operations (intensive variables). Integrating descriptions, we can scale information across the energy system's complex hierarchical organization. Use of an energy grammar mandates the pre-analytical definition of accounting categories, primary energy sources and energy carriers; thermal (e.g., fuels) and mechanical energy (e.g., electricity), and a set of expected relations over the different energy forms. Our preliminary analysis shows that MuSIASEM effectively describes the required investment of energy carriers (in quantity and quality) and other production factors, such as labor, in society's energy sector.
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