Challenges and potential improvements of systems analyses for sector coupling

Abstract

This paper discusses the challenges of systems analysis for policy advice in the context of sector coupling along the three dimensions of socio-technical problems: control, change, and action. Research shows that the challenges of systems analyses increase significantly when considering sector coupling, both with respect to the choice of areas of investigation and with respect to the basic methods and practices of systems analysis for policy advice. In particular, social aspects and practical expertise need to be considered, results of different studies should ideally be combinable for reflexive meta-analyses, and analyses should focus on key messages.

Keywords

• systems analysis
• challenges
• sector coupling
• robustness
• energy supply