Bridging the gap between energy and the environment

Holland, Robert A., Scott, Kate, Hinton, Emma D., Austen, Melanie C., Barrett, John, Beaumont, Nicola, Blaber-Wegg, Tina, Brown, Gareth, Carter-Silk, Eleanor, Cazenave, Pierre, Eigenbrod, Felix, Hiscock, Kevin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4505-1496, Hooper, Tara, Lovett, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0554-9273, Papathanasopoulou, Eleni, Smith, Pete, Thomas, Amy, Tickner, Rob, Torres, Ricardo and Taylor, Gail (2016) Bridging the gap between energy and the environment. Energy Policy, 92. pp. 181-189. ISSN 0301-4215

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Abstract

Meeting the world's energy demand is a major challenge for society over the coming century. To identify the most sustainable energy pathways to meet this demand, analysis of energy systems on which policy is based must move beyond the current primary focus on carbon to include a broad range of ecosystem services on which human well-being depends. Incorporation of a broad set of ecosystem services into the design of energy policy will differentiates between energy technology options to identify policy options that reconcile national and international obligations to address climate change and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. In this paper we consider our current understanding of the implications of energy systems for ecosystem services and identify key elements of an assessment. Analysis must consider the full life cycle of energy systems, the territorial and international footprint, use a consistent ecosystem service framework that incorporates the value of both market and non-market goods, and consider the spatial and temporal dynamics of both the energy and environmental system. While significant methodological challenges exist, the approach we detail can provide the holistic view of energy and ecosystem services interactions required to inform the future of global energy policy.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: C 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Uncontrolled Keywords: ecosystem services,energy,life-cycle,mrio,sustainability,sdg 7 - affordable and clean energy,sdg 13 - climate action ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/affordable_and_clean_energy
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
Faculty of Science
Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Geosciences
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE)
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Social Sciences
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 05 Apr 2016 11:00
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2022 00:59
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/58123
DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.01.037

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