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13 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables, 3 appendixes, supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110105, This paper reviews different approaches to modelling the energy transition towards a zero carbon economy. It identifies a number of limitations in current approaches such as a lack of consideration of out-of-equilibrium situations (like an energy transition) and non-linear feedbacks. To tackle those issues, the new open source integrated assessment model pymedeas is introduced, which allows the exploration of the design and planning of appropriate strategies and policies for decarbonizing the energy sector at World and EU level. The main novelty of the new open-source model is that it addresses the energy transition by considering biophysical limits, availability of raw materials, and climate change impacts. This paper showcases the model capabilities through several simulation experiments to explore alternative pathways for the renewable transition. In the selected scenarios of this work, future shortage of fossil fuels is found to be the most influential factor of the simulations system evolution. Changes in efficiency and climate change damages are also important determinants influencing model outcomes, This work was supported by the European Union through the funding of the MEDEAS project under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme [grant agreement No 69128], With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

Book review Enough is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources, R. Dietz, D. O’Neill. Berrett-Koehler/Routledge, San Francisco/London (2013). 240 pp.

Many of the benefits anticipated from technology in the 1960s remain unrealized today. Alongside the optimism that drives technological development, more sceptical views that regard the promises of technology with reflection, mistrust, and even hostility, have emerged within Western societies. One such group is the Degrowth community, a heterogenous group of researchers and activists who question technological advancements that contribute to environmentally and socially harmful economic growth. In this vein, the movement critically observes the current hype surrounding digital technology, which seems to reflect a mantra of “the more digital technology, the better”. This paper presents perspectives that emerged from a dialogue among members of the Degrowth community, who were asked to imagine wise and unwise futures of digitalisation in 2068. Key concerns of unwise futures include increasing disconnection of humans from the natural environment and from one another as individuals, the use of digital technology for optimising the allocation of scarce resources to the benefit of the wealthy few, and authoritarian governance of technologies and life itself. Wise technological futures, in turn, allow people to freely access digital technologies that are convivial, just, environmentally sustainable, and guided by democratic deliberation. It remains controversial how far digital technologies and the interests and skills surrounding them can facilitate the principles of Degrowth, and the extent to which the harmful effects of digital technologies are already shaping social, ecological and technological futures. However, the dialogue clearly emphasised the need to develop more detailed socio-technological imaginaries that provide practically feasible alternatives.

Peak Oil, which refers to the maximum possible global oil production rate, is increasingly gaining attention in both science and policy discourses. However, little is known about how this phenomenon will impact economies, despite its apparent imminence and potential dangers. In this paper, we construct a vulnerability map of the U.S. economy, combining two approaches for analyzing economic systems, i.e. input–output analysis and social network analysis (applied to economic data). Our approach reveals the relative importance of individual economic sectors, and how vulnerable they are to oil price shocks. As such, our dual-analysis helps identify which sectors, due to their strategic position, could put the entire U.S. economy at risk from Peak Oil. For the U.S., such sectors would include Iron Mills, Fertilizer Production and Transport by Air. Our findings thus provide early warnings to downstream companies about potential ‘trouble’ in their supply chain, and inform policy action for Peak Oil. Although our analysis is embedded in a Peak Oil narrative, it is just as valid and useful in the context of developing a climate roadmap toward a low carbon economy.

Economic degrowth is ecologically desirable, and possibly inevitable; but under what conditions can it become socially sustainable? How can we have full employment and economic stability without growth? What will happen to public spending and to public debt? How would production be organised in a degrowing economy? And under what plausible socio-political conditions could such grand changes happen? Standard economic theories and models ignore these questions. For them economic growth is an axiomatic necessity. This article reviews recent contributions in the economics of degrowth and identifies research avenues for ecological economists.

Given recent developments on energy markets and skyrocketing oil prices, we argue for an urgent need to study the potential effects of world oil production reaching a maximum (Peak Oil) in order to facilitate the development of adaptation policies. We consider input–output (IO) modelling as a powerful tool for this purpose. However, the standard Leontief type model implicitly assumes that all necessary inputs to satisfy a given demand can and will be supplied. This is problematic if the availability of certain key inputs becomes restricted and it is therefore only of limited usefulness for the study of the phenomenon of Peak Oil. Hence this paper firstly reviews two alternative modelling tools within the IO framework: supply-driven and mixed models. The former has been severely criticised for its problematic assumption of perfect factor substitution and perfect elasticity of demand as revealed by Oosterhaven [Oosterhaven J. On the plausibility of the supply-driven IO model. J Reg Sci 1988; 28:203–17. [1]]. The supply-constrained model on the other hand proved well suited to analyse the quantity dimension of Peak Oil and is therefore applied empirically in the second part of the paper, using data for the UK, Japanese and Chilean economy. Results show how differences in net-oil exporting and net-oil importing countries are clearly visible in terms of final demand. Industries, most affected in all countries, include transportation, electricity production and financial and trade services.

Given recent developments on energy markets and skyrocketing oil prices, we argue for an urgent need to study the potential effects of world oil production reaching a maximum (Peak Oil) in order to facilitate the development of adaptation policies. We consider input–output (IO) modelling as a powerful tool for this purpose. However, the standard Leontief type model implicitly assumes that all necessary inputs to satisfy a given demand can and will be supplied. This is problematic if the availability of certain key inputs becomes restricted and it is therefore only of limited usefulness for the study of the phenomenon of Peak Oil. Hence this paper firstly reviews two alternative modelling tools within the IO framework: supply-driven and mixed models. The former has been severely criticised for its problematic assumption of perfect factor substitution and perfect elasticity of demand as revealed by Oosterhaven [Oosterhaven J. On the plausibility of the supply-driven IO model. J Reg Sci 1988; 28:203–17. [1] ]. The supply-constrained model on the other hand proved well suited to analyse the quantity dimension of Peak Oil and is therefore applied empirically in the second part of the paper, using data for the UK, Japanese and Chilean economy. Results show how differences in net-oil exporting and net-oil importing countries are clearly visible in terms of final demand. Industries, most affected in all countries, include transportation, electricity production and financial and trade services.

Los economistas ecológicos (p.ej.: Herman Daly) dicen que el desarrollo sostenible solo puede alcanzarse mediante un drástico cambio en nuestro sistema económico basado en el crecimiento. El crecimiento económico continuo siendo éste el objetivo de cualquier gobierno, es inherentemente incompatible con el desarrollo sostenible, a menos que el desarrollo sostenible sea definido de forma débil; es decir aceptando sustituibilidad entre capital producido por el hombre y capital natural. Esto ya se lleva actualmente a cabo por la teoría económica neoclásica, las raíces de la cual se encuentran en el concepto del valor, análogo al principio de conservación de la mecánica clásica. Algunos autores esgrimen que es este concepto del valor, combinado con la panacea del progreso tecnológico, lo que permite a la teoría económica neoclásica creer en un crecimiento económico ilimitado. No solo el crecimiento económico continuo es físicamente imposible (p.ej.: la hipótesis de la desmaterialización es un mito) dadas las interpretaciones de Georgescu Roegen al respecto de las leyes de la termodinámica, sino también indeseable. Varios estudios (p.ej.: cálculos del Índice de Bienestar Económico Sostenible) sugieren que el actual bienestar de la sociedad humana no esta aumentando, sino de hecho está disminuyendo a medida que aumenta todavía más el crecimiento económico. La alternativa al crecimiento y al decrecimiento es el estado estacionario. La mayor parte de los economistas clásicos reconocen la existencia de un estado estacionario, incluyendo Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, Karl Marx y John Stuart Mill. Todos ellos tenían sus ideas al respecto de este estado; unos lo igualaban con el desastre, otros lo glorificaban. Sin embargo, la mayoría tenían una visión positivista al respecto. Herman Daly apoya la visión de Mill de un estado estacionario positivo p.ej.: inevitable, pero también normativo. Él cree que la humanidad debería aproximarse a una economía en estado estacionario (EEE) antes de verse forzada a ello. Daly ofrece un marco político teórico simple que puede usarse para tal meta. Se necesitan tres instituciones para estabilizar el sistema en un nivel constante. La primera estaría al cargo de estabilizar la población mundial, cosa que es inevitable. La segunda institución introduciría cuotas de recolección, que serían subastadas por el gobierno, con el objetivo de reducir la utilización de materiales y energía (throughput). Finalmente una institución distribuidora debería asegurar la justicia social mediante la introducción de límites máximos y mínimos a las rentas. Obviamente este es un concepto muy controvertido y ha sido mayormente ignorado por los académicos o descartado por utópico. Robert Ayres argumenta que dada suficiente energía, la cual puede ser generada encontrando nuevas maneras de capturar los abundantes rayos solares, casi cualquier cosa puede ser reciclada, permitiendo incluso más crecimiento económico. Hay diversos defectos en las ideas de Daly y hay cuestiones que deberían ser discutidas (p. ej. Importaciones, expropiación de la riqueza, incentivos al emprenderismo). Un aspecto importante es si el funcionamiento del capitalismo puede ser mantenido en un estado estacionario. Mill, Marx, Schumpeter y Keynes, implícitamente asumieron que una economía en estado estacionario equivaldría al socialismo (o al menos al fin del capitalismo)...

Hardly any other matter is debated as fiercely in sustainability research as the role of economic growth. However, this debate is still somewhat one-sided, as those who do not question the possibility and desirability of further economic growth rarely engage with the critics and sceptics who do. In this chapter we provide an overview of the different views on the relationship between economic growth and sustainability. We first present the arguments brought forward by those who do not see a conflict between growth and sustainability and who engage in concepts and theories such as ecological modernization, green growth, the green economy, the Environmental Kuznets Curve and dematerialization. We then deliver an overview of the counter arguments to these theories, which can be divided into three broad critiques: (1) growth is not sustainable due to environmental and resource limits (2) growth is not desirable because it is failing to improve people’s lives, and (3) growth is not realistic due to factors such as an ageing population and increasing debt. Finally we provide a condensed introduction to the post-growth perspectives of steady state economics and degrowth, their theoretical background, differences and complementarities.

Enough arguments exist to be able to state that we are nearing the maximum limit of petrol extraction. This means that in the short or medium term the price of petrol of petrol will rise hopelessly in the global crisis. Determined characteristics of the Basque economy such as its energetic dependence, energetic intensity and transport of some of the most representative sectors, the supremacy of transport via road or the links of the activity of determined sectors of products whose demand is especially sensitive to the price of petrol represent a serious of threats in a scenario of energy shortage. The transcendence and imminence of the goal which we confront requires immediate collective action from the Basque society. The elaboration of a vulnerability analysis is needed, as too is a crash plan, not forgetting a transition strategy towards a post-coal society.

International audience; The relationship between network structure and dynamics is one of the most extensively investigated problems in the theory of complex systems of recent years. Understanding this relationship is of relevance to a range of disciplines—from neuroscience to geomorphology. A major strategy of investigating this relationship is the quantitative comparison of a representation of network architecture (structural connectivity, SC) with a (network) representation of the dynamics (functional connectivity, FC). Here, we show that one can distinguish two classes of functional connectivity—one based on simultaneous activity (co-activity) of nodes, the other based on sequential activity of nodes. We delineate these two classes in different categories of dynamical processes—excitations, regular and chaotic oscillators—and provide examples for SC/FC correlations of both classes in each of these models. We expand the theoretical view of the SC/FC relationships, with conceptual instances of the SC and the two classes of FC for various application scenarios in geomorphology, ecology, systems biology, neuroscience and socio-ecological systems. Seeing the organisation of dynamical processes in a network either as governed by co-activity or by sequential activity allows us to bring some order in the myriad of observations relating structure and function of complex networks.

la notion de dépense désigne une part d’énergie qui ne peut être utilisée par des organismes vivants en raison de leurs limites physiologiques. Cette portion d’énergie circule sans but dans l’environnement, jusqu’à ce elle finissent par s’éteindre. Dans une perspective anthropologique, l’énergie pourrait être redéfinie comme le carburant de l’action, ce qui nous pousse à agir. Bataille appelle « servile » la portion d’énergie qu’un être humain utilise pour sa subsistance ou pour sa croissance biologique. Le coeur du problème réside dans l’énergie excédentaire, une fois consommée la part dévolue à cet usage servile. L’excédent d’énergie exige un usage « souverain » : il faut décider de l’usage de ce carburant de l’action, en considérant le contenu philosophique du projet politique qui le définira. La notion de dépense est primordiale pour théoriser une sortie de la société de croissance.

Anti-utilitarianism is a school of thought that critiques the hegemony of the epistemological postulates of economics in the humanities and social sciences. Anti-utilitarians assert the crucial importance of the social bond when compared to self-interest. They outline a gift exchange paradigm that aims to overstep two major frameworks of the social sciences: holism and methodological individualism. In 1981, the French sociologist, Alain Caillé, and the Swiss anthropologist, Gérald Berthoud, gave birth to MAUSS – Mouvement anti-utilitariste dans les sciences sociales (Anti-utilitarian Movement in the Social Sciences). This brilliant acronym reproduces the surname of the author of The Gift (1924), Marcel Mauss. Most anti-utilitarians reproach Latouche for the choice of the term “degrowth”: it implicitly embeds the alternative into the economic imaginary. They call, instead, for a “political” critique of boundlessness and excess, uprooting the discourse from an ethical level.

In a wider sense, which includes nature, dépense indicates that share of energy which cannot be employed by living organisms, owing to their physiological limits. This portion continues to circulate aimlessly in the environment up until the point where it extinguishes itself. From an anthropological framework, energy could be redefined as the fuel of action, that is, the fuel that calls us to act. The portion of energy that a living being employs for either sustenance or biological growth, Bataille terms “servile.” In fact, mere biological sustenance can be achieved spending only a miniscule portion of the total amount of available energy. The basic problem relates to the residual energy that exceeds the share devoted to such servile use. Excess energy requires a “sovereign” use: it is necessary to choose a destination for the fuel of action on the basis of the philosophical intent of a political prospect. It is the sovereign employment of excess energy that qualifies us as “humans.” Dépense is a key concept, then, for theorizing a way out of the growth society.

In a wider sense, which includes nature, dépense indicates that share of energy which cannot be employed by living organisms, owing to their physiological limits. This portion continues to circulate aimlessly in the environment up until the point where it extinguishes itself. From an anthropological framework, energy could be redefined as the fuel of action, that is, the fuel that calls us to act. The portion of energy that a living being employs for either sustenance or biological growth, Bataille terms “servile.” In fact, mere biological sustenance can be achieved spending only a miniscule portion of the total amount of available energy. The basic problem relates to the residual energy that exceeds the share devoted to such servile use. Excess energy requires a “sovereign” use: it is necessary to choose a destination for the fuel of action on the basis of the philosophical intent of a political prospect. It is the sovereign employment of excess energy that qualifies us as “humans.” Dépense is a key concept, then, for theorizing a way out of the growth society.

In a wider sense, which includes nature, dépense indicates that share of energy which cannot be employed by living organisms, owing to their physiological limits. This portion continues to circulate aimlessly in the environment up until the point where it extinguishes itself. From an anthropological framework, energy could be redefined as the fuel of action, that is, the fuel that calls us to act. The portion of energy that a living being employs for either sustenance or biological growth, Bataille terms “servile.” In fact, mere biological sustenance can be achieved spending only a miniscule portion of the total amount of available energy. The basic problem relates to the residual energy that exceeds the share devoted to such servile use. Excess energy requires a “sovereign” use: it is necessary to choose a destination for the fuel of action on the basis of the philosophical intent of a political prospect. It is the sovereign employment of excess energy that qualifies us as “humans.” Dépense is a key concept, then, for theorizing a way out of the growth society.

Anti-utilitarianism is a school of thought that critiques the hegemony of the epistemological postulates of economics in the humanities and social sciences. Anti-utilitarians assert the crucial importance of the social bond when compared to self-interest. They outline a gift exchange paradigm that aims to overstep two major frameworks of the social sciences: holism and methodological individualism. In 1981, the French sociologist, Alain Caillé, and the Swiss anthropologist, Gérald Berthoud, gave birth to MAUSS – Mouvement anti-utilitariste dans les sciences sociales (Anti-utilitarian Movement in the Social Sciences). This brilliant acronym reproduces the surname of the author of The Gift (1924), Marcel Mauss. Most anti-utilitarians reproach Latouche for the choice of the term “degrowth”: it implicitly embeds the alternative into the economic imaginary. They call, instead, for a “political” critique of boundlessness and excess, uprooting the discourse from an ethical level.

In a wider sense, which includes nature, dépense indicates that share of energy which cannot be employed by living organisms, owing to their physiological limits. This portion continues to circulate aimlessly in the environment up until the point where it extinguishes itself. From an anthropological framework, energy could be redefined as the fuel of action, that is, the fuel that calls us to act. The portion of energy that a living being employs for either sustenance or biological growth, Bataille terms “servile.” In fact, mere biological sustenance can be achieved spending only a miniscule portion of the total amount of available energy. The basic problem relates to the residual energy that exceeds the share devoted to such servile use. Excess energy requires a “sovereign” use: it is necessary to choose a destination for the fuel of action on the basis of the philosophical intent of a political prospect. It is the sovereign employment of excess energy that qualifies us as “humans.” Dépense is a key concept, then, for theorizing a way out of the growth society.

Anti-utilitarianism is a school of thought that critiques the hegemony of the epistemological postulates of economics in the humanities and social sciences. Anti-utilitarians assert the crucial importance of the social bond when compared to self-interest. They outline a gift exchange paradigm that aims to overstep two major frameworks of the social sciences: holism and methodological individualism. In 1981, the French sociologist, Alain Caillé, and the Swiss anthropologist, Gérald Berthoud, gave birth to MAUSS – Mouvement anti-utilitariste dans les sciences sociales (Anti-utilitarian Movement in the Social Sciences). This brilliant acronym reproduces the surname of the author of The Gift (1924), Marcel Mauss. Most anti-utilitarians reproach Latouche for the choice of the term “degrowth”: it implicitly embeds the alternative into the economic imaginary. They call, instead, for a “political” critique of boundlessness and excess, uprooting the discourse from an ethical level.

Wir verwenden unsere Energie in zwei verschiedenen Bereichen. Der erste ist für die Erhaltung des Lebens und die Fortpflanzung unverzichtbar. Auf den zweiten entfallen nichtproduktive Aufwendungen: Luxus, Trauer, Krieg, Religion, Spiele, Darbietungen, die Künste, perverse sexuelle Aktivitäten. Alles in allem sind diese Aktivitäten – die als dépense gelten können – Selbstzweck. Jede Gesellschaft hat einen Überschuss an Energie, der exakt als jene Energie definiert wird, die nicht für die schlichte Reproduktion des Lebens benötigt wird. Der Begriff dépense trägt dazu bei, die größte Lücke in der »Wachstumsgesellschaft « zu enthüllen.

Anti-utilitarianism is a school of thought that critiques the hegemony of the epistemological postulates of economics in the humanities and social sciences. Anti-utilitarians assert the crucial importance of the social bond when compared to self-interest. They outline a gift exchange paradigm that aims to overstep two major frameworks of the social sciences: holism and methodological individualism. In 1981, the French sociologist, Alain Caillé, and the Swiss anthropologist, Gérald Berthoud, gave birth to MAUSS – Mouvement anti-utilitariste dans les sciences sociales (Anti-utilitarian Movement in the Social Sciences). This brilliant acronym reproduces the surname of the author of The Gift (1924), Marcel Mauss. Most anti-utilitarians reproach Latouche for the choice of the term “degrowth”: it implicitly embeds the alternative into the economic imaginary. They call, instead, for a “political” critique of boundlessness and excess, uprooting the discourse from an ethical level.

Der Antiutilitarismus ist eine Denkrichtung, die die Vorherrschaft der erkenntnistheoretischen Postulate der Wirtschaftswissenschaften in den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften kritisiert. Antiutilitaristen betonen die zentrale Bedeutung der sozialen Bindung gegenüber dem Eigeninteresse. Sie skizzieren ein Paradigma des Schenkens und Tauschens, das darauf abzielt, zwei Bezugssysteme der Sozialwissenschaften zu überwinden: den Holismus und den methodologischen Individualismus.

El antiutilitarismo es una escuela de pensamiento que critica la hegemonía de los postulados epistemológicos de la economía en las humanidades y en las ciencias sociales. Los antiutilitaristas reivindican la crucial importancia del vínculo social cuando se lo compara con el egoísmo. Describen un paradigma de intercambio de dones que busca trascender dos grandes marcos de referencia de las ciencias sociales: el holismo y el individualismo metodológico

Degrowth has been launched into the political arena by activists and intellectuals as a project advocating the democratically-led shrinking of production and consumption with the aim of achieving social justice and ecological sustainability. This overview of degrowth offers to the English speaking-world a comprehensive coverage of the main topics and major challenges of degrowth in a succinct, simple and accessible manner. In addition, it offers a set of keywords useful for intervening in current political debates and fro bringing about concrete degrowth-inspired proposals at different levels - local, national and global. The result is be the most comprehensive coverage of the topic of degrowth in English and serves as the definitive international reference.

L’anti-utilitarisme est une école de pensée qui critique la suprématie des postulats épistémologiques de l’économie dans les sciences humaines et sociales. Les anti-utilitaristes affirment la prééminence du lien social sur l’intérêt personnel. Ils dessinent un paradigme du don qui vise à se substituer aux deux approches majeures des sciences sociales : le holisme et l’individualisme méthodologique.

L’anti-utilitarisme est une école de pensée qui critique la suprématie des postulats épistémologiques de l’économie dans les sciences humaines et sociales. Les anti-utilitaristes affirment la prééminence du lien social sur l’intérêt personnel. Ils dessinent un paradigme du don qui vise à se substituer aux deux approches majeures des sciences sociales : le holisme et l’individualisme méthodologique.

El consumo de energía consiste de dos partes. La primera es necesaria para la conservación y la reproducción de la vida. La segunda es utilizada para gastos no productivos: lujo, duelo, guerra, religión, espectáculos, las artes, actividades sexuales perversas. En total, todas estas actividades —definidas como dépense— son fines en sí mismos. Toda sociedad tiene un exceso de energía, definida precisamente como toda aquella energía que no es necesaria para la simple reproducción de la vida. El concepto de dépense ayuda a identificar un hueco fundamental en la «sociedad del crecimiento»

Degrowth has been launched into the political arena by activists and intellectuals as a project advocating the democratically-led shrinking of production and consumption with the aim of achieving social justice and ecological sustainability. This overview of degrowth offers to the English speaking-world a comprehensive coverage of the main topics and major challenges of degrowth in a succinct, simple and accessible manner. In addition, it offers a set of keywords useful for intervening in current political debates and fro bringing about concrete degrowth-inspired proposals at different levels - local, national and global. The result is be the most comprehensive coverage of the topic of degrowth in English and serves as the definitive international reference.