ISE - Comunicações em actas de encontros científicos internacionais
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Browsing ISE - Comunicações em actas de encontros científicos internacionais by Author "Bento, Nuno"
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- Assessing the industrial effects of the deployment of renewable energy technologies: when product identity mattersPublication . Barbosa, Juliana; Fontes, Margarida; Bento, NunoABSTRACT: Investment in renewable energy technologies (RET) produces impacts on economic activity and job creation that are fundamental to increase the social acceptability of those technologies. Previous research that attempted to measure the impacts of RET has mainly focused on its effects in energy production and climate mitigation, but surprisingly little is known about the potential of RET to transform the industrial structure of an economy. This paper proposes a methodology to understand and measure the industrial transformative impact of RET. The paper draws on contributions from the sustainability transitions literature and from the economic literature that analyses the socioeconomic impacts of RET, and combine them with the economic complexity literature in order to address two main gaps: the lack of measurement of industrial transformative effects in the first; and the assumption of product homogeneity in the second that precludes an assessment of more structural impacts. We develop a conceptual approach to the way technology deployment can lead to changes in the industrial structure, centered on the notion of product heterogeneity intrinsic to the economic complexity literature. We advance three main dimensions along which to measure the changes in the industrial structure driven by modifications in the basket of products being produced due to the development of the technology value chain: sophistication, connectivity, and competitiveness. We also propose a more precise delineation of the industrial value chain of the technology, by considering the actual weights of each sector to the technology and the technology to each sector. This approach is applied to the case of wind energy in Portugal (a successful fast follower), compared with three other main wind energy producers (Spain, Denmark, Germany). The results show a strong relationship between the deployment of the technology and the sophistication and the competitiveness of the Æcloud of productsÆ composing the industrial value chain. The paper proposes a novel analytical framework and measurement tools that can support a timely assessment of the effects of sustainable energy technologies in the industrial structure, with relevance for policy.
- Co-evolutionary dynamics of policy and system development : the case of marine renewable energy technologiesPublication . Fontes, Margarida; Karadzic, Vanja; Pereira, Tiago Santos; Bento, NunoABSTRACT: The transition to a sustainable energy system is a major societal challenge requiring profound trans-formations in existing socio-technical systems (Markard et al, 2012). These processes have been addressed by the sociotechnical transitions literature that called the attention to the role played by radically new technologies, being developed in niches, which have strong transformative potential (Kemp et al, 1998; Schot and Geels, 2007). These technologies and the socio-technical systems de-veloping around them often need temporary protection against the selection pressures of the estab-lished regimes (Smith and Raven, 2016); and supportive policies are a fundamental mode of protec-tion (Kivimaa and Kern, 2016). In the case of sustainable energy technologies, policy support is fur-ther justified by the need to accelerate the transition process (which is usually a long term process), given the urgency of fighting against climate change (IPCC, 2014).
- Decarbonization Transition Pathways and Regional Trends: Insights from One Million StudiesPublication . Bento, Nuno; Alves, Tiago; Ribeiro, Ricardo; Fontes, MargaridaABSTRACT: As global temperatures near critical thresholds and emissions continue to rise, the urgency for strategic, accelerated decarbonization grows. Despite a vast climate mitigation literature, a systematic understanding of actionable pathways remains limited. Here, we apply artificial intelligence to analyze over one million scientific papers (2011–2021), generating a data-driven typology of six archetypal decarbonization pathways: Technology Breakthrough, Electrification of Uses, Integrated Policy, Decarbonization of Electricity, Demand Reduction & Co-benefits, and Land Use & Circularity. Regional patterns show Electrification of Uses prevailing in Europe (EU27), while Technology Breakthrough dominates in China, the US, and Japan. Increasing political and societal resistance to mitigation makes the strategic selection and combination of pathways even more critical. Our analysis highlights key synergies between pathways, the scientific competencies required to support them, and persistent gaps—particularly in Land Use and Circularity. We also compare current climate policy directions with the typology, revealing alignment gaps that may weaken policy effectiveness. This framework enables policymakers to better match strategies with regional capacities and research strengths, offering a more coherent approach to decarbonization. Strengthening the integration of science, technology, and policy is essential to overcome fragmentation and deliver the emissions reductions needed to meet the net-zero climate targets.
- Driving Transformative Change: Assessing the Direction and Design of Decarbonization Policies in the EU, US, China, and JapanPublication . Fontes, Margarida; Sousa, Cristina; Bento, NunoABSTRACT: The transition to low‐carbon economies demands policies that drive both decarbonization and deep socioeconomic transformation. This paper assesses the “transformative potential” of 3,400 decarbonization policies from Europe, the US, China, and Japan. We define transformative potential considering both policy direction – alignment with sustainability goals, and policy design ‐ presence of mechanisms that can induce transformation, such as experimentation, actor diversity, multiscale coordination, and reflexivity. The research shows that when we consider a broad universe of decarbonization policies, transformative potential is still limited: only 20% of policies align with at least one transition pathway and include at least one transformative mechanism; and just 2% include three or more mechanisms. By identifying distinguishing features of these higher transformative potential policies, the paper contributes to understanding how technological, sectoral and contextual factors shape the capacity of policies to enable transformative change.
- How innovations lead to structural change: Elements for a theory of system transformationPublication . Bento, Nuno; Fontes, Margarida; Costa, EvaldoABSTRACT: Accelerating decarbonization to limit global warming to 1.5ºC requires a deep change in the provision and consumption of essential services such as mobility, thermal comfort or substance. It involves the dissemination of several social, technological and institutional innovations across multiple sectors. This contrasts with the traditional perspective in the literature that focuses on specific innovations in a single sector (e.g., solar PV in electricity generation). This research examines the conditions and processes that enable system transformation, here defined as a structural change which have wide social and economic impacts on several sectors (energy, transport, building, industry, food). Building on theories and concepts from economics, innovation and technological change, and sustainability transitions, four main conditions for system transformation emerge: technology; business model; social acceptance; institutions. These conditions underpin processes of system transformation that can be led by demand, supply or coordination. The analysis of two empirical examples (digital convergence and sharing economy) illustrates the explanatory power of this framework and offers insights for improving both the theory and the strategies for deep decarbonization.
- Transformative business models for decarbonization: the case of Web Summit award-winning start-upsPublication . Costa, Evaldo; Fontes, Margarida; Bento, Nuno; Academic Conferences International LimitedABSTRACT: The social demand for decarbonization has placed increasing pressure on businesses to climate mitigation. The development of new business models capable of transforming conventional systems of production and consumption and replacing them with more sustainable alternatives is one critical step towards this goal. This study combines several streams of literature including sustainability transitions and business model narratives to investigate the key-elements of the business models that have the potential to transform the supply of goods and services in a way that enables the transition to a low-carbon society. We investigate the organizational arrangements in the business activities of start-ups and relate to the extent to which they avoid, shift, or improve the production and consumption of goods and services in a way that significantly reduces carbon emissions. To do this, we analyzed start-ups that received innovation awards and were on the list of finalist’s candidates of the Web of Summit between 2014-2020. The results suggest that start-ups may be in the process of transforming their business models (BM), since a growing trend of transformative projects that adopt integrated business models was identified, e.g., business-to-business-to-commerce (B2B2C), instead of the familiar business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) models. The findings also highlighted the role of Industry 4.0, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), together with other sustainable elements, as crucial to shortening the gap between design and consumption, leveraging innovative solutions, and transforming the model of business, from start-up. This research emphasizes the importance of transformative business models in the context of decarbonization and contributes to filling a gap in the literature on the elements that drive this transformation. The research is also relevant for policymakers aiming to promote a low-carbon economy by highlighting the levers that can be used to promote transformative pathways through business models.
- Transformative mechanisms in decarbonization policies: a structured approachPublication . Sousa, Cristina; Fontes, Margarida; Bento, NunoABSTRACT: The transition to a low-carbon society should accelerate to avoid an increase in the temperatures above 1.5º to 2ºC, and this is unlikely to occur without policy intervention (IPCC, 2022). Given the complexity of the problem, recent debates have increasingly pointed to the need of adopting a new, broader view on policy intervention (Weber and Rohracher, 2012; Hekkert et al., 2020). This entails a move beyond a single focus on economic competitiveness and growth and towards a focus on societal problems or “grand challenges”, leading to the emergence of the concept of transformative innovation policy (Schot and Steinmueller 2018; Dierks et al., 2019). This new rationale implies the consideration of a much broader range of policy objectives, targets and instruments, as well as the notion that a mix of policies needs to be deployed to achieve the desired goals (Rogge and Reichardt, 2016).