Beyond renewable expansion: a degrowth perspective on the European energy transition and society
This Master’s thesis investigates the concept of degrowth, an alternative socio-economic path that challenges the assumption that continuous economic growth is a necessary condition for human well-being and environmental sustainability. The concept is explored thoroughly and holistically, focusing o...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis de maestría |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/440784 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/440784 |
| Access Level: | acceso embargado |
| Palabra clave: | Macroeconomics Sustainable development--Europe Macroeconomia Desenvolupament sostenible--Europa Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Economia i organització d'empreses::Macroeconomia |
| Sumario: | This Master’s thesis investigates the concept of degrowth, an alternative socio-economic path that challenges the assumption that continuous economic growth is a necessary condition for human well-being and environmental sustainability. The concept is explored thoroughly and holistically, focusing on its social, environmental, and economic implications, as well as its potential impacts on the energy system and the energy transition. In other words, the aim is to explore whether an intentional reduction in production and consumption might not only be compatible with, but perhaps even necessary for ensuring a fair and sustainable society in the long term. To do so, the Master’s thesis examines the ability of existing macroeconomic models to simulate a degrowth scenario. This approach responds to the growing academic interest in the topic and the current lack of quantitative tools to assess its feasibility and consequences. In fact, most of the existing analyses remain qualitative, fragmented, and rarely integrated into operational models. This study addresses this gap through a comparative analysis of three macroeconomic models: International Futures (IFs), LowGrow SFC, and EUROGREEN. The goal is to evaluate their structure, underlying assumptions, and capacity to address key questions about the energy transition and society in a degrowth context. For IFs, a custom scenario was created by modifying over 30 parameters based on policy proposals from the degrowth literature. In the case of the LowGrow SFC, a set of key parameters was modified- limited in number but highly specific and relevant to the degrowth agenda- through the interactive interface to simulate a degrowth transition. Finally, EUROGREEN enabled a direct simulation of degrowth by activating predefined policy packages focused on sufficiency, redistribution, and behavioral change. The analysis of the results focused on key indicators such as GDP, CO2 emissions, income inequality, unemployment, and the share of renewable energy. This allowed for an assessment of the internal consistency of the models on the one hand and their ability to reflect the degrowth principles on the other. Although each model has its own limitations and strengths, all three contributed to a deeper understanding of what degrowth might look like, both quantitatively and qualitatively. By comparing outputs and different methodologies, this work proposes a comprehensive framework for exploring and analyzing degrowth scenarios. It also identifies fundamental gaps in current modeling approaches, opening the door to the future development of accessible and customizable tools that could support degrowth research and policymaking. |
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