Academic Journal
Assessing Lifestyle Transformations and Their Systemic Effects in Energy-System and Integrated Assessment Models: A Review of Current Methods and Data.
| Title: | Assessing Lifestyle Transformations and Their Systemic Effects in Energy-System and Integrated Assessment Models: A Review of Current Methods and Data. |
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| Authors: | Andreou, Andreas, Fragkos, Panagiotis, Fotiou, Theofano, Filippidou, Faidra |
| Source: | Energies (19961073); Jul2022, Vol. 15 Issue 14, pN.PAG-N.PAG, 24p |
| Abstract: | Achieving the ambitious climate targets required to limit global warming to 1.5 °C requires a deep transformation of the supply-and-demand side of energy–environmental–economic systems. Recent articles have shown that environmentally sustainable consumer behaviors driven by lifestyle changes can significantly contribute to climate-change mitigation and sustainable development goals. However, lifestyle changes are not adequately captured by scenarios developed with integrated assessment and energy-system models (IAMs/ESMs), which provide limited policy insights. This article conducts a systematic review of the IAM and ESM literature to identify the most important lifestyle changes in current mitigation pathways for the residential and transport sectors, review the employed state-of-the-art modeling approaches and scenario assumptions, and propose improvements to existing methodological frameworks. The review finds that mode shifts towards public transport and active transport modes, shared mobility, and eco-driving have the greatest impact in the transport sector, while actions that reduce space and water-heating requirements and the circular economy are the most effective practices in households. Common modeling approaches lack sophistication as they omit (1) the dynamics and costs of demand-side transitions, (2) the heterogenous responses of different consumer groups, and (3) the structural effects of lifestyles on the macro-economy. New approaches employing innovative methodologies combined with big data collected from users offer new avenues to overcome these challenges and improve the modeling of lifestyle changes in large-scale models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Subject Terms: | SUSTAINABLE consumption, CONSUMER behavior, BIOLOGICAL transport, PUBLIC transit, GLOBAL warming |
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| ISSN: | 19961073 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/en15144948 |
| Database: | Complementary Index |
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