IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v10y2017i1p36-d86687.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Indicator-Based Approach for Analyzing the Resilience of Transitions for Energy Regions. Part I: Theoretical and Conceptual Considerations

Author

Listed:
  • Claudia R. Binder

    (Laboratory for Human Environment Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS), Swiss Mobiliar Chair in Urban Ecology and Sustainable Living, Institute of Environmental Engineering, ENAC, École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
    Research and Teaching Unit in Human-Environment Relations, Department for Geography, Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich (LMU), 80539 München, Germany)

  • Susan Mühlemeier

    (Laboratory for Human Environment Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS), Swiss Mobiliar Chair in Urban Ecology and Sustainable Living, Institute of Environmental Engineering, ENAC, École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
    Research and Teaching Unit in Human-Environment Relations, Department for Geography, Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich (LMU), 80539 München, Germany)

  • Romano Wyss

    (Laboratory for Human Environment Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS), Swiss Mobiliar Chair in Urban Ecology and Sustainable Living, Institute of Environmental Engineering, ENAC, École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
    Research and Teaching Unit in Human-Environment Relations, Department for Geography, Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich (LMU), 80539 München, Germany)

Abstract

The transition of our current energy system from a fossil-based system to a system based on renewables is likely to be one of the most complex and long-term societal transitions in history. The need for a fundamental system transformation raises the question of how to measure the continuing progress and the resilience of this process over time. This paper aims at developing the conceptualization and operationalization of resilience for energy systems in transition with regard to both social and technical aspects. Based on the resilience concept in social-ecological systems literature, we propose to conceptualize resilience for energy systems building on two core attributes of resilience, namely diversity and connectivity. We present an indicator set to operationalize these key attributes in social and technical systems using: (i) definitions and measurements for three fundamental diversity properties—variety, balance and disparity—and (ii) basic connectivity properties from the social network analysis literature—path length, centrality and modularity. Finally, we reflect on possibilities for an application of these indicators in the social and technical system’s spheres and discuss the added value of the approach for energy transition research.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudia R. Binder & Susan Mühlemeier & Romano Wyss, 2017. "An Indicator-Based Approach for Analyzing the Resilience of Transitions for Energy Regions. Part I: Theoretical and Conceptual Considerations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:10:y:2017:i:1:p:36-:d:86687
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/1/36/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/1/36/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruth, Matthias & Özgün, Onur & Wachsmuth, Jakob & Gößling-Reisemann, Stefan, 2015. "Dynamics of energy transitions under changing socioeconomic, technological and climate conditions in Northwest Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 29-47.
    2. Kharrazi, Ali & Sato, Masahiro & Yarime, Masaru & Nakayama, Hirofumi & Yu, Yadong & Kraines, Steven, 2015. "Examining the resilience of national energy systems: Measurements of diversity in production-based and consumption-based electricity in the globalization of trade networks," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 455-464.
    3. Wolf-Peter Schill, 2013. "Systemintegration erneuerbarer Energien: die Rolle von Speichern für die Energiewende," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 82(3), pages 61-88.
    4. Andy Stirling, 2007. "A General Framework for Analysing Diversity in Science, Technology and Society," SPRU Working Paper Series 156, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    5. O'Brien, Geoff & Hope, Alex, 2010. "Localism and energy: Negotiating approaches to embedding resilience in energy systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 7550-7558, December.
    6. Hecher, Maria & Vilsmaier, Ulli & Akhavan, Roya & Binder, Claudia R., 2016. "An integrative analysis of energy transitions in energy regions: A case study of ökoEnergieland in Austria," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 40-53.
    7. Trutnevyte, Evelina & Stauffacher, Michael & Scholz, Roland W., 2012. "Linking stakeholder visions with resource allocation scenarios and multi-criteria assessment," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 219(3), pages 762-772.
    8. Réka Albert & Hawoong Jeong & Albert-László Barabási, 2000. "Error and attack tolerance of complex networks," Nature, Nature, vol. 406(6794), pages 378-382, July.
    9. Benjamin K. Sovacool, 2016. "The history and politics of energy transitions: Comparing contested views and finding common ground," WIDER Working Paper Series 081, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Späth, Philipp & Rohracher, Harald, 2010. "'Energy regions': The transformative power of regional discourses on socio-technical futures," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 449-458, May.
    11. Ash, J. & Newth, D., 2007. "Optimizing complex networks for resilience against cascading failure," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 380(C), pages 673-683.
    12. Igor Linkov & Daniel A. Eisenberg & Kenton Plourde & Thomas P. Seager & Julia Allen & Alex Kott, 2013. "Resilience metrics for cyber systems," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 471-476, December.
    13. Roege, Paul E. & Collier, Zachary A. & Mancillas, James & McDonagh, John A. & Linkov, Igor, 2014. "Metrics for energy resilience," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 249-256.
    14. Kern, Florian & Smith, Adrian, 2008. "Restructuring energy systems for sustainability? Energy transition policy in the Netherlands," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4093-4103, November.
    15. Verbong, Geert & Geels, Frank, 2007. "The ongoing energy transition: Lessons from a socio-technical, multi-level analysis of the Dutch electricity system (1960-2004)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 1025-1037, February.
    16. Stirling, Andy, 2010. "Multicriteria diversity analysis: A novel heuristic framework for appraising energy portfolios," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1622-1634, April.
    17. Strunz, Sebastian, 2014. "The German energy transition as a regime shift," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 150-158.
    18. Foxon, Timothy J., 2011. "A coevolutionary framework for analysing a transition to a sustainable low carbon economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 2258-2267.
    19. Baggio, Rodolfo & Sainaghi, Ruggero, 2016. "Mapping time series into networks as a tool to assess the complex dynamics of tourism systems," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 23-33.
    20. Benjamin K. Sovacool, 2016. "The history and politics of energy transitions: Comparing contested views and finding common ground," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-81, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    21. Binder, Claudia R. & Hofer, Christoph & Wiek, Arnim & Scholz, Roland W., 2004. "Transition towards improved regional wood flows by integrating material flux analysis and agent analysis: the case of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 1-17, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thorsten Schilling & Romano Wyss & Claudia R. Binder, 2018. "The Resilience of Sustainability Transitions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, December.
    2. He, Peijun & Ng, Tsan Sheng & Su, Bin, 2019. "Energy-economic resilience with multi-region input–output linear programming models," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Lei Xia & Qingjiang Han & Shui Yu, 2024. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Sustainable manufacturing intelligence: pathways for high-quality and energy efficient economic growth," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1-30, June.
    4. Linas Martišauskas & Juozas Augutis & Ričardas Krikštolaitis & Rolandas Urbonas & Inga Šarūnienė & Vytis Kopustinskas, 2022. "A Framework to Assess the Resilience of Energy Systems Based on Quantitative Indicators," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-25, May.
    5. Romano Wyss & Susan Mühlemeier & Claudia R. Binder, 2018. "An Indicator-Based Approach for Analysing the Resilience of Transitions for Energy Regions. Part II: Empirical Application to the Case of Weiz-Gleisdorf, Austria," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-21, August.
    6. Pingkuo, Liu & Huan, Peng, 2022. "What drives the green and low-carbon energy transition in China?: An empirical analysis based on a novel framework," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PE).
    7. Nazakat Ali & Manzoor Hussain & Jang-Eui Hong, 2021. "Fault-Tolerance by Resilient State Transition for Collaborative Cyber-Physical Systems," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(22), pages 1-20, November.
    8. Adel Mottahedi & Farhang Sereshki & Mohammad Ataei & Ali Nouri Qarahasanlou & Abbas Barabadi, 2021. "The Resilience of Critical Infrastructure Systems: A Systematic Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-32, March.
    9. Rubio-Varas, Mar & Muñoz-Delgado, Beatriz, 2019. "Long-term diversification paths and energy transitions in Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 158-168.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ziyi Wang & Zengqiao Chen & Cuiping Ma & Ronald Wennersten & Qie Sun, 2022. "Nationwide Evaluation of Urban Energy System Resilience in China Using a Comprehensive Index Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-36, February.
    2. Hecher, Maria & Vilsmaier, Ulli & Akhavan, Roya & Binder, Claudia R., 2016. "An integrative analysis of energy transitions in energy regions: A case study of ökoEnergieland in Austria," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 40-53.
    3. Bradshaw, Amanda & de Martino Jannuzzi, Gilberto, 2019. "Governing energy transitions and regional economic development: Evidence from three Brazilian states," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 1-11.
    4. Lotte M. Lutz & Daniel J. Lang & Henrik Von Wehrden, 2017. "Facilitating Regional Energy Transition Strategies: Toward a Typology of Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-17, September.
    5. Frank, Alejandro Germán & Gerstlberger, Wolfgang & Paslauski, Carolline Amaral & Lerman, Laura Visintainer & Ayala, Néstor Fabián, 2018. "The contribution of innovation policy criteria to the development of local renewable energy systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 353-365.
    6. Adrian Neacșa & Mirela Panait & Jianu Daniel Mureșan & Marian Catalin Voica & Otilia Manta, 2022. "The Energy Transition between Desideratum and Challenge: Are Cogeneration and Trigeneration the Best Solution?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-22, March.
    7. Su, Rui & Chen, Bin & Wang, Saige & Duan, Cuncun, 2024. "Energy technical resilience assessment based on complex network analysis – A case study of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 364(C).
    8. Busch, Jonathan & Roelich, Katy & Bale, Catherine S.E. & Knoeri, Christof, 2017. "Scaling up local energy infrastructure; An agent-based model of the emergence of district heating networks," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 170-180.
    9. Kivimaa, Paula & Kern, Florian, 2016. "Creative destruction or mere niche support? Innovation policy mixes for sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 205-217.
    10. Pin Li & Jinsuo Zhang, 2023. "China’s Inter-Provincial Energy Security Resilience Assessment over Space and Time: An Improved Gray Relational Projection Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-22, March.
    11. Timothy J. Foxon, 2014. "Technological lock-in and the role of innovation," Chapters, in: Giles Atkinson & Simon Dietz & Eric Neumayer & Matthew Agarwala (ed.), Handbook of Sustainable Development, chapter 20, pages 304-316, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Zaijing Gong & Dapeng Liang, 2017. "A resilience framework for safety management of fossil fuel power plant," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 89(3), pages 1081-1095, December.
    13. Mura, Matteo & Longo, Mariolina & Toschi, Laura & Zanni, Sara & Visani, Franco & Bianconcini, Silvia, 2021. "The role of geographical scales in sustainability transitions: An empirical investigation of the European industrial context," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    14. Thorsten Schilling & Romano Wyss & Claudia R. Binder, 2018. "The Resilience of Sustainability Transitions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, December.
    15. Sharifi, Ayyoob & Yamagata, Yoshiki, 2016. "Principles and criteria for assessing urban energy resilience: A literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1654-1677.
    16. Romano Wyss & Susan Mühlemeier & Claudia R. Binder, 2018. "An Indicator-Based Approach for Analysing the Resilience of Transitions for Energy Regions. Part II: Empirical Application to the Case of Weiz-Gleisdorf, Austria," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-21, August.
    17. Trutnevyte, Evelina & McDowall, Will & Tomei, Julia & Keppo, Ilkka, 2016. "Energy scenario choices: Insights from a retrospective review of UK energy futures," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 326-337.
    18. Mujjuni, F. & Betts, T. & To, L.S. & Blanchard, R.E., 2021. "Resilience a means to development: A resilience assessment framework and a catalogue of indicators," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    19. Hassan Qudrat-Ullah & Mark McCarthy Akrofi & Aymen Kayal, 2020. "Analyzing Actors’ Engagement in Sustainable Energy Planning at the Local Level in Ghana: An Empirical Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, April.
    20. Foxon, Timothy J. & Pearson, Peter J.G. & Arapostathis, Stathis & Carlsson-Hyslop, Anna & Thornton, Judith, 2013. "Branching points for transition pathways: assessing responses of actors to challenges on pathways to a low carbon future," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 146-158.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:10:y:2017:i:1:p:36-:d:86687. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.