Refine
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (3)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (3)
Keywords
- Artificial Intelligence (1)
- Big Data Analytics (1)
- China (1)
- Digital Rebound (1)
- Digitalisierung (1)
- Energiesysteme (1)
- Global Value Chains (1)
- Globale Wertschöpfungsketten (1)
- Industrial Internet of Things (1)
- Industrie 4.0 (1)
Institute
Digitalisation in industry – also called “Industry 4.0” – is seen by numerous actors as an opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of the industrial sector. The scientific assessments of the effects of digitalisation in industry on environmental sustainability, however, are ambivalent. This cumulative dissertation uses three empirical studies to examine the expected and observed effects of digitalisation in industry on environmental sustainability. The aim of this dissertation is to identify opportunities and risks of digitalisation at different system levels and to derive options for action in politics and industry for a more sustainable design of digitalisation in industry. I use an interdisciplinary, socio-technical approach and look at selected countries of the Global South (Study 1) and the example of China (all studies). In the first study (section 2, joint work with Marcel Matthess), I use qualitative content analysis to examine digital and industrial policies from seven different countries in Africa and Asia for expectations regarding the impact of digitalisation on sustainability and compare these with the potentials of digitalisation for sustainability in the respective country contexts. The analysis reveals that the documents express a wide range of vague expectations that relate more to positive indirect impacts of information and communication technology (ICT) use, such as improved energy efficiency and resource management, and less to negative direct impacts of ICT, such as electricity consumption through ICT. In the second study (section 3, joint work with Marcel Matthess, Grischa Beier and Bing Xue), I conduct and analyse interviews with 18 industry representatives of the electronics industry from Europe, Japan and China on digitalisation measures in supply chains using qualitative content analysis. I find that while there are positive expectations regarding the effects of digital technologies on supply chain sustainability, their actual use and observable effects are still limited. Interview partners can only provide few examples from their own companies which show that sustainability goals have already been pursued through digitalisation of the supply chain or where sustainability effects, such as resource savings, have been demonstrably achieved. In the third study (section 4, joint work with Peter Neuhäusler, Melissa Dachrodt and Marcel Matthess), I conduct an econometric panel data analysis. I examine the relationship between the degree of Industry 4.0, energy consumption and energy intensity in ten manufacturing sectors in China between 2006 and 2019. The results suggest that overall, there is no significant relationship between the degree of Industry 4.0 and energy consumption or energy intensity in manufacturing sectors in China. However, differences can be found in subgroups of sectors. I find a negative correlation of Industry 4.0 and energy intensity in highly digitalised sectors, indicating an efficiency-enhancing effect of Industry 4.0 in these sectors. On the other hand, there is a positive correlation of Industry 4.0 and energy consumption for sectors with low energy consumption, which could be explained by the fact that digitalisation, such as the automation of previously mainly labour-intensive sectors, requires energy and also induces growth effects. In the discussion section (section 6) of this dissertation, I use the classification scheme of the three levels macro, meso and micro, as well as of direct and indirect environmental effects to classify the empirical observations into opportunities and risks, for example, with regard to the probability of rebound effects of digitalisation at the three levels. I link the investigated actor perspectives (policy makers, industry representatives), statistical data and additional literature across the system levels and consider political economy aspects to suggest fields of action for more sustainable (digitalised) industries. The dissertation thus makes two overarching contributions to the academic and societal discourse. First, my three empirical studies expand the limited state of research at the interface between digitalisation in industry and sustainability, especially by considering selected countries in the Global South and the example of China. Secondly, exploring the topic through data and methods from different disciplinary contexts and taking a socio-technical point of view, enables an analysis of (path) dependencies, uncertainties, and interactions in the socio-technical system across different system levels, which have often not been sufficiently considered in previous studies. The dissertation thus aims to create a scientifically and practically relevant knowledge basis for a value-guided, sustainability-oriented design of digitalisation in industry.
Zwischen Modellierung und Stakeholderbeteiligung - Wissensproduktion in der Energiewendeforschung
(2023)
Die Dekarbonisierung des Energiesystems ist Teil der international im Rahmen des Pariser Klimaabkommens beschlossenen CO2-Minderungsstrategie zur Bekämpfung des Klimawandels. Nach den Verhandlungen und Beschlüssen der Klimaziele stehen politische Entscheider weltweit nun vor der Frage, wie sie diese erreichen können. Dies produziert eine hohe politische Nachfrage nach Wissen um die direkten und indirekten Effekte verschiedener Instrumente und potentiellen Entwicklungspfade einer Energiewende. Dieser gesellschaftliche Bedarf an wissenschaftlichen Antworten zu Lösungsoptionen wurde im Rahmen einer Klimafolgenforschung, genauer einer Klimapolitikfolgenforschung, aufgenommen. Der relativ neue Zweig einer Energiewendeforschung hat sich weltweit entwickelt, steht dabei allerdings vor der doppelten Herausforderung: Erstens befindet sich das Objekt der Forschung nicht im luftleeren Raum, sondern innerhalb ökonomischer, sozialer und politischer Zusammenhänge, hier gesellschaftliche Einbettung genannt. Denn die Frage, wie die Energiewende erreicht werden kann, wird auch außerhalb der Wissenschaft debattiert und stellt damit ein Aushandlungsfeld unterschiedlicher Interessen und Narrative dar. Zweitens befindet sich das zu untersuchende Objekt in der Zukunft, hier unter dem Terminus des strukturellen Nicht-Wissens zusammengefasst. Diese beiden Bedingungen führen dazu, dass konventionelle Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung nicht greifen und eine Öffnung und Transformation der Wissenschaft in Hinblick auf neue Methoden vonnöten ist (Nowotny 2001, Ravetz 2006, Schneidewind 2013). In dieser Arbeit untersuche ich zwei Möglichkeiten, wie mit der Herausforderung, Wissen unter der Bedingung des strukturellen Nicht-Wissens und der gesellschaftlichen Einbettung zu produzieren, in der Energiewendeforschung umgegangen wird. Einerseits wird dies durch die Einbeziehung von Stakeholdern, also nicht-wissenschaftlicher Akteure, in den Forschungsprozess getan. Andererseits ist die Nutzung von komplexen ökonometrischen Modellen zur Berechnung von Implikationen und energiewirtschaftlichen Entwicklungspfaden zu einem zentralen Mittel der Wissensgenerierung in der Energiewendeforschung avanciert. Damit wird der als Problem verstandenen strukturellen Bedingung des Nicht-Wissens insofern begegnet, als dass die Ergebnisse von Stakeholder-Involvement und von Modellierungsarbeiten zweifelsohne neues Wissen zur Verfügung stellen. Uneinigkeit besteht jedoch darin, worüber dieses Wissen etwas aussagt: Sind es Interessen oder legitime Perspektiven, die Stakeholder in den Forschungsprozess einbringen und sind Modelle vereinfachte Darstellungen der Welt oder sind sie Ausdruck der Vorstellung des Modellierers?
To reach its climate targets, the European Union has to implement a major sustainability transition in the coming decades. While the socio-technical change required for this transition is well discussed in the academic literature, the economics that go along with it are often reduced to a cost-benefit perspective of climate policy measures. By investigating climate change mitigation as a coordination problem, this thesis offers a novel perspective: It integrates the economic and the socio-technical dimension and thus allows to better understand the opportunities of a sustainability transition in Europe.
First, a game theoretic framework is developed to illustrate coordination on green or brown investment from an agent perspective. A model based on the coordination game "stag hunt" is used to discuss the influence of narratives and signals for green investment as a means to coordinate expectations towards green growth. Public and private green investment impulses – triggered by credible climate policy measures and targets – serve as an example for a green growth perspective for Europe in line with a sustainability transition. This perspective also embodies a critical view on classical analyses of climate policy measures.
Secondly, this analysis is enriched with empirical results derived from stakeholder involvement. In interviews and with a survey among European insurance companies, coordination mechanisms such as market and policy signals are identified and evaluated by their impact on investment strategies for green infrastructure. The latter, here defined as renewable energy, electricity distribution and transmission as well as energy efficiency improvements, is considered a central element of the transition to a low-carbon society.
Thirdly, this thesis identifies and analyzes major criticisms raised towards stakeholder involvement in sustainability science. On a conceptual level, different ways of conducting such qualitative research are classified. This conceptualization is then evaluated by scientists, thereby generating empirical evidence on ideals and practices of stakeholder involvement in sustainability science.
Through the combination of theoretical and empirical research on coordination problems, this thesis offers several contributions: On the one hand, it outlines an approach that allows to assess the economic opportunities of sustainability transitions. This is helpful for policy makers in Europe that are striving to implement climate policy measures addressing the targets of the Paris Agreement as well as to encourage a shift of investments towards green infrastructure. On the other hand, this thesis enhances the stabilization of the theoretical foundations in sustainability science. Therefore, it can aid researchers who involve stakeholders when studying sustainability transitions.