Socio-political storylines can support the better representation of social and political aspects in energy models and thus a more realistic analysis of possible energy system designs

Energy models are used to inform and support decisions for the transition to climate neutrality. In recent years, such models have been criticised for being overly technology-centred and largely ignoring social and political developments and dynamics of the energy transition, such as preferences and acceptance of citizens and decision-makers. To help make models more realistic and policy-relevant, we developed QTDIAN (Quantification of socio-Technological DIffusion and sociAl constraiNts) − a toolbox of empirically-based qualitative and quantitative descriptions and boundary conditions of socio-technical and political aspects of the energy transition. We have linked QTDIAN with the energy demand models DESSTINEE, HEB and DREEM, the energy system model Euro-Calliope and indirectly with the economic equilibrium model WEGDYN and the environmental assessment model ENBIOS.

Papers:

Süsser, D., al Rakouki, H., & Lilliestam, J. (2021). The QTDIAN modelling toolbox–Quantification of social drivers and constraints of the diffusion of energy technologies. Deliverable 2.3. Sustainable Energy Transitions Laboratory (SENTINEL) project. Potsdam: Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS).

Süsser, D., Pickering, B., Chatterjee, S., Oreggioni, G., Stavrakas, V., & Lilliestam, J. (2021). Integration of socio-technological transition constraints into energy demand and systems models. Deliverable 2.5. Sustainable Energy Transitions Laboratory (SENTINEL) project. Potsdam: Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS).

Süsser, D., Martin, N., Stavrakas, V., Gaschnig, H., Talens-Peiró, L., Flamos, A., Madrid-López, C., & Lilliestam, J. (2022). Why energy models should integrate social and environmental factors: Assessing user needs, omission impacts, and real-word accuracy in the European Union. Energy research & social science, 92: 102775. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102775