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Using Energy Supply Scenarios in an Interdisciplinary Research Process

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Smart Cities, Green Technologies, and Intelligent Transport Systems (SMARTGREENS 2017, VEHITS 2017)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 921))

Abstract

The sustainable energy transition (Energiewende) is a multidisciplinary challenge. While for technical disciplines, the focus is on the development of technologies which can supply, transmit and store energy in a sustainable way, economic research focuses for example on the analyses of costs and risks of different asset portfolios. Yet another perspective is taken by the social sciences who focus on social challenges associated with the implementation of measures for realizing the Energiewende (decarbonization, high energy efficiency, high shares of renewables, nuclear phaseout), for example their acceptability. A solution for energy supply and storage which is optimized only according to one of these perspectives will, however, fail to meet other essential criteria. To develop sustainable solutions for energy supply and storage, which are technically feasible, cost-effective, and supported by local residents, interdisciplinary cooperation of researchers is thus needed. Interdisciplinary research, however, is subject to many barriers, for example the need to agree on a common analytical framework. In this paper, a process model for interdisciplinary energy research is proposed, in which specific scenarios are used to aid interdisciplinary cooperation and reciprocal integration of results. Based on a current research project, the phases of the model and the use of the scenarios in disciplinary and interdisciplinary work packages are described, as well as challenges and shortcomings of the model.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For information on the project see http://www.comm.rwth-aachen.de/index.php?article_id=954&clang=1.

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Acknowledgements

A previous version of this paper was presented at the 7th International Conference on Smart Cities and Green ICT Systems (SMARTGREENS) (Zaunbrecher et al. [53]). Special thanks go to the KESS project members for the fruitful discussions which have contributed and led to this paper. Thanks also to Dr. Klaus Baier, Julian Halbey, Iana Gorokhova and Saskia Ziegler for research support. The “KESS” project conducted at RWTH Aachen University is funded by the strategic funds of the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair for Communication Science, RWTH Aachen University, Campus Boulevard 57, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Barbara S. Zaunbrecher & Martina Ziefle

  2. Chair and Institute of Power Plant Technology, Steam and Gas Turbines, RWTH Aachen University, Templergraben 55, 52062, Aachen, Germany

    Thomas Bexten & Manfred Wirsum

  3. Chair of Energy Economics and Management, Institute for Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), E.ON Energy Research Center, RWTH Aachen University, Mathieustr. 10, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Jan Martin Specht & Reinhard Madlener

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  1. Barbara S. Zaunbrecher
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  2. Thomas Bexten
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  3. Jan Martin Specht
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  4. Manfred Wirsum
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  5. Reinhard Madlener
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  6. Martina Ziefle
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Correspondence to Barbara S. Zaunbrecher .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Innovation Value Institute, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Maynooth, Ireland

    Brian Donnellan

  2. Siemens Corporate Technology, Munich, Germany

    Cornel Klein

  3. School of Computing, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Markus Helfert

  4. Ford Research and Advanced Engineering, Dearborn, MI, USA

    Oleg Gusikhin

  5. University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    António Pascoal

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Zaunbrecher, B.S., Bexten, T., Specht, J.M., Wirsum, M., Madlener, R., Ziefle, M. (2019). Using Energy Supply Scenarios in an Interdisciplinary Research Process. In: Donnellan, B., Klein, C., Helfert, M., Gusikhin, O., Pascoal, A. (eds) Smart Cities, Green Technologies, and Intelligent Transport Systems. SMARTGREENS VEHITS 2017 2017. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 921. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02907-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02907-4_4

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