Bianca; Systems Thinking itself an "understanding and application". Understanding the interaction of several factors and their impacts to the end result will create more efficient processes. Therefore, you are right that "systems thinking" concept always should be integrated into bioenergy systems to accelerate their diffusion into low-carbon economy.. Especially, LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) should be used as a systems thinking tool when one assesses bioenergy systems whether they are(or will be) delivering what they are promising. Especially, for the emerging innovative bioenergy pathways we should perform correct LCA and overall systems thinking to make timely and correct decisions.

You may check out the work of Anna Wieczorek: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna_Wieczorek2

We wrote a review on the use of systems approaches in the agricultural sector which may be helpful, see:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236259274_Evolution_of_systems_approaches_to_agricultural_innovation_concepts_analysis_and_interventions?ev=prf_pub

Chapter Evolution of systems approaches to agricultural innovation: ...

Thank you both

Laurens..what I found through your links look very interesting!

In economics, the technology literature often focuses on financial feasibility and risk factors.However, there is a broader socioeconomic  conservation adoption literature that accounts for the role of additional factors, including agent “innovation readiness” and sensitivity to stewardship, both factors of importance to the technology.

With waste management, the starting place is often negative in both monetary and environmental dimensions. This does not imply that overall farm operations are unprofitable, only that waste management is usually a costly sub-enterprise. In the environmental dimension, dairy manure has mixed effects ranging from the positive value of properly applied manure to negative spillovers on air and water quality.

You may like to read the book, The Fifth Discipline--The Art and Practice of Learning Organization by Peter Senge. He talks of five essential elements of building a learning organization: Systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team building. He has argued that systems thinking includes the other four too.  All five must be attended to if you want to see a learning organization work.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Fifth-Discipline-Practice-Organization/dp/0553456342

Dear Debi,

thank you very much. Yes I have started to read the book few days ago and I find it really inteersting. I will also go through "systems thinking, systems practice" (soft systems methodology) Peter Checkland.

Read the book "Power Hungry" by Robert Bryce.  The key issue that seems to be missing in the biofuels discussion it the understanding of the economic landscape involved.  In the United States, the biofuels producer is caught is an unfavorable landscape.  The must take the market price for their feedstock and then are price takers dealing with the big petroleum companies.  It is called a monopsosony market. Perhaps the biofuels industry needs to look for higher value products.

Yes. I do use systems thinking approach in my research. There are many approaches you could take for your research. If you want to develop quantitative models you may use system dynamics wherein you need to develop Causal loop diagram (CLD) which helps identify feedback loops in your system of study. You may further develop stock and flow model by identifying level variables, rates and auxiliary variables etc. Eventually you need to simulate the Stock and flow model to see the behavior of the system you have modeled. If you want to take qualitative approach you may use Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) by Peter Checkland et al. Please find attached an article on SSM which might help you in understanding and using SSM. 

Hello Bianca,

Please have a look on the report (attached file) I made with my working team for a Systems Thinking course during our Master's degree. It's about bio-fuels/bioenergy in Brazil from a systemic perspective. It involves the use of system thinking and system dynamics simulations. Any additional information, let me know. 

Regards.

Julio

Bioenergy is the production of renewable energy from organic material. It corresponds to three main feedstock categories (agriculture, forestry & waste) for three main uses (transport, heat & electricity). The development of bioenergy is often retained as a positive option due to its contribution to the mitigation of climate change, agricultural and rural development, energy security, innovation policies. Nevertheless, concerns have been raised during the last few years about risks or bad practices, sometimes evolving into large scale controversy, especially in relation to GHG emissions. Ethanol has become a global strategic fuel and a widespread alternative to climate change challenges. Research areas involving carbon and energy balances and greenhouse gas emissions have gained special relevance in recent years. The exploration of this technological frontier is tightly linked to the exploitation of  bio-energy alternatives in an environment of technological uncertainty but supported by the forecast of increased demand for ethanol. In other words, it is possible to sustain the demand for sugarcane based on an diversified portfolio of technologies, part of them with a satisfactory degree of complementarity. This means that not only the competitiveness of ethanol is important, but that R&D activities contribute to the strengthening of the biotechnology market.

Maria Ester DAL-POZ  et all (2013), THE BRAZILIAN BIO-ENERGY PROGRAM (BIOEN): BIOETHANOL TRANSGENIC PLANTS INNOVATION NETWORKS

Hi,

If you’re slightly ’soft’ in your approach you can view the question from an open systems perspective, including qualitative changes and creation of new relations among actors. If so, the innovation systems approaches are useful as they deal with how industries/business eco-systems/innovation eco-systems emerge and progress (simply put: an innovation systems study analyses how actors specialize and interact in order to generate, disseminate and profit from innovations).

The innovation systems approaches should also fit well with a background in political sciences. I can recommend you to check out the technological innovation systems approach (even if other versions of it may be just as useful). See e.g. Bergek et al (2008) Analyzing the functional dynamics of technological innovation systems: A scheme of analysis, Research Policy, 37 (3), 407-429. There are several empirical studies of green technologies that are in line with this type of analysis.

HTH,

Magnus 

Dear Bianca,

System thinking is indeed being applied to bioenergy and its methodological approaches. An example of system thinking applied in bioenergy methodology as applied in bioenergy research. You might the following papers I published below quite useful.

Regards,

Dr. Emmanuel Ackom

UNEP DTU Partnership

Denmark

Book Backgrounder: major environmental criteria of biofuel sustainability

Article Industrial Sustainability of Competing Wood Energy Options in Canada

Article Modern bioenergy from agricultural and forestry residues in ...