SURE encompasses a very diversified and interdisciplinary set of areas of expertise that allow the assessment of sustainability and resilience across their multiple dimensions. For the first time in Switzerland, such a holistic and systemic approach with active engagement of stakeholders is applied, as shown in Figure 1. It combines comprehensive indicator databases with detailed system modelling of the economy and energy system, surrounded by a detailed representation of social, legal, policy and political aspects related to sustainability and resilience. SURE, demonstrates and delivers a novel analytical framework opening the way for the integrated assessment of the energy system’s resilience and sustainability to design and evaluate alternative transition pathways for the increased use of renewable energy sources in the near future and long-term.
As shown in Figure 2, the SURE project structure and analytical framework tackles several research areas related to the reconciliation of resilience and sustainability criteria with the main goals of the Swiss energy sector transformation:
- Multi-dimensional evaluation with resilience and sustainability indicators
- Evaluation of long-term pathway scenarios that describe possible future configurations of the Swiss energy system
- Analysis of disruptive events (shock scenarios) in terms of consequences and associated uncertainties
- Digitalization as a game-changer to increase resilience
- Engaging energy sector stakeholders in solutions to optimize future system configurations and increase acceptance
- Identify robust and widely acceptable pathways, optimal strategies and policies to design and implement a sound transformation process, including requirements in terms of policy acceptance and legal aspects
The main project outcomes include:
- Delivery of a holistic assessment toolbox to support decision making at all levels of the energy system by addressing costs, benefits, and uncertainty over the multiple dimensions of sustainability and resilience
- Identification of sustainable and resilient pathways towards decarburization and high shares of renewable energy, based on stakeholder evaluation across several criteria related to sustainability and resilience
- Recommendations for strategies and implementation plans
