Suggested Papers

Energy, Climate, Low Carbon Technologies and Systems Approaches, A Reading List

Climate and Energy

Davis, S. J., Caldeira, K., & Matthews, H. D. (2010). Future CO2 emissions and climate change from existing energy infrastructure. Science (New York, N.Y.), 329(5997), 1330-3. (subscription required)

A simulation-based ‘thought experiment’ that asks what future CO2 emissions might look like over time if no new CO2 producing devices where built, but those currently in use remained in use for the rest of their useful lifetimes.

Matthews, H. D. & Weaver, A. J. (2010). Committed climate warming. Nature Geoscience, 3(3), 142-143. (subscription required)

Argues that the notion of unavoidable warming owing to inertia in the climate system is based on an incorrect interpretation of climate science.

Sterman, J. D. (2008). Risk communication on climate: Mental models and mass balance. Science (New York, N.Y.), 322(5901), 532-3.

An assessment of the weaknesses in ‘common sense’ intuition about climate change relative to climate science.

Low Carbon Technologies and Policy

A Business Plan for America’s Energy Future. American Energy Innovation Council 2010

Opportunities to invest in a clean energy future with advocacy and opinions from top US business leaders.

100% renewable electricity: A roadmap to 2050 for Europe and North Africa. Price Waterhouse, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, European Climate Foundation

Although focused only on one region this study does a good job presenting the many factors and systems involved in the transition to a very low carbon electricity generation sector

China’s growth, China’s cities, and the new global low-carbon industrial revolution, Nicholas Stern, November 2010. Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment

A very readable look at the challenges and opportunities of low carbon development in China.

System Dynamics

Repenning, N. & Sterman, J. (2001). Nobody ever gets credit for fixing defects that didn’t happen: Creating and sustaining process improvement. California Management Review, 43(4), 64-88.

A classic in system dynamics and systems thinking that relates to maintenance of operations such as offshore oil rigs and other projects.

Paich, M. & Sterman, J. D. (1993). Boom, bust, and failures to learn in experimental markets. Management Science, 39(12), 1439-1458.

This paper experimental data and system dynamics to explain the boom and bust cycles that occur in many different industries.

Sterman, J. D. (2006). Learning from Evidence in a Complex World. American Journal of Public Health, 96(3), 505-514.

An important paper laying out the motivation for a systems approach to complex issues. It uses public health as the topic at hand, but could be applied to any other domain.