IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v211y2025ics1364032124010256.html

Modeling the interconnected drivers of power sector decarbonization in Chile

Author

Listed:
  • Véliz, Karina D.
  • Walters, Jeffrey P.
  • Fica, Carlos
  • Busco, Carolina

Abstract

This study sought to model the interconnected and multidimensional factors influencing the decarbonization of Chile's electricity sector. Factors were identified through a structured review of articles found in the Web of Science. Factor interactions were then characterized through a survey and participatory systems modeling workshop with stakeholders from various fields in the Chilean energy sector. The model emerging from the workshop was structurally analyzed to identify and evaluate system leverage points used to inform recommendations for future policy and practice. A key leverage point identified in this analysis underscores the importance of stakeholder awareness regarding the benefits of renewable energy projects, serving as a crucial catalyst towards decarbonization by fostering citizen support and driving the implementation of favorable public policies. Conversely, the model showed that public opposition to transmission line construction, stemming from health, environmental, and property value concerns, can potentially lead to project delays, increased costs, and challenges in modernizing electrical grids. These findings emphasize the need for public engagement and effective communication to prioritize decarbonization while balancing short-term impacts with long-term benefits. The systemic and process-oriented insights gained from the application of the participatory modeling approach presented in this study, highlight the value of utilizing systems thinking and modeling approaches to inform future decarbonization strategies on a global scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Véliz, Karina D. & Walters, Jeffrey P. & Fica, Carlos & Busco, Carolina, 2025. "Modeling the interconnected drivers of power sector decarbonization in Chile," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:211:y:2025:i:c:s1364032124010256
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2024.115299
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032124010256
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2024.115299?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tino Aboumahboub & Robert J. Brecha & Himalaya Bir Shrestha & Ursula Fuentes & Andreas Geiges & William Hare & Michiel Schaeffer & Lara Welder & Matthew J. Gidden, 2020. "Decarbonization of Australia’s Energy System: Integrated Modeling of the Transformation of Electricity, Transportation, and Industrial Sectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-39, July.
    2. Anderson, Jeffrey J. & Rode, David & Zhai, Haibo & Fischbeck, Paul, 2021. "Transitioning to a carbon-constrained world: Reductions in coal-fired power plant emissions through unit-specific, least-cost mitigation frontiers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    3. Nong, Duy & Wang, Can & Al-Amin, Abul Quasem, 2020. "A critical review of energy resources, policies and scientific studies towards a cleaner and more sustainable economy in Vietnam," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    4. Nils Seckinger & Peter Radgen, 2021. "Dynamic Prospective Average and Marginal GHG Emission Factors—Scenario-Based Method for the German Power System until 2050," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-22, April.
    5. Chapman, Andrew J. & Itaoka, Kenshi, 2018. "Energy transition to a future low-carbon energy society in Japan's liberalizing electricity market: Precedents, policies and factors of successful transition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2019-2027.
    6. Marco Raugei & Mashael Kamran & Allan Hutchinson, 2020. "A Prospective Net Energy and Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of the UK Electricity Grid," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-28, May.
    7. Pia Buschmann & Angela Oels, 2019. "The overlooked role of discourse in breaking carbon lock‐in: The case of the German energy transition," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(3), May.
    8. Andrea A. Eras-Almeida & Miguel A. Egido-Aguilera & Philipp Blechinger & Sarah Berendes & Estefanía Caamaño & Enrique García-Alcalde, 2020. "Decarbonizing the Galapagos Islands: Techno-Economic Perspectives for the Hybrid Renewable Mini-Grid Baltra–Santa Cruz," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-47, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wadim Strielkowski & Lubomír Civín & Elena Tarkhanova & Manuela Tvaronavičienė & Yelena Petrenko, 2021. "Renewable Energy in the Sustainable Development of Electrical Power Sector: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Henning Meschede & Paul Bertheau & Siavash Khalili & Christian Breyer, 2022. "A review of 100% renewable energy scenarios on islands," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(6), November.
    3. Hendrik Lambrecht & Steffen Lewerenz & Heidi Hottenroth & Ingela Tietze & Tobias Viere, 2020. "Ecological Scarcity Based Impact Assessment for a Decentralised Renewable Energy System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-14, October.
    4. Souhir Ben Amor & Smaranda Sgarciu & Taimyra BatzLineiro & Felix Muesgens, 2024. "Advanced Models for Hourly Marginal CO2 Emission Factor Estimation: A Synergy between Fundamental and Statistical Approaches," Papers 2412.17379, arXiv.org.
    5. Wakiyama, Takako & Zusman, Eric, 2021. "The impact of electricity market reform and subnational climate policy on carbon dioxide emissions across the United States: A path analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    6. Xiao, Liehui & Ning, Zhuo & Chen, Bin & Chen, Jie-Chao & Yuan, Wu-Zhi & Huang, Si-Min, 2025. "Exergy and coupled system analysis of hydrophilic polymeric membrane condenser in coal-fired power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    7. Chen, Yu & Zhao, Changyi & Chen, Shan & Chen, Wenqing & Wan, Kunyang & Wei, Jia, 2023. "Riding the green rails: Exploring the nexus between high-speed trains, green innovation, and carbon emissions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    8. Dehler-Holland, Joris & Schumacher, Kira & Fichtner, Wolf, 2021. "Topic Modeling Uncovers Shifts in Media Framing of the German Renewable Energy Act," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 2(1).
    9. Cheng, Zhaolin & Li, Yanli & Zhao, Laijun & Zeng, Mengjia & Shi, Zhen & Wen, Fashuai, 2025. "Transportation carbon emission structural lock-in and subsidy mechanism design in the “Belt and Road Initiative”," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 424-442.
    10. Xi Wu & Qiuyu Chen & Weitao Zheng & Jingyu Xie & Danhong Xie & Hancheng Chen & Xiang Yu & Chen Yang, 2025. "Low-Carbon Dispatch Method Considering Node Carbon Emission Controlling Based on Carbon Emission Flow Theory," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-13, September.
    11. Knuepfer, K. & Rogalski, N. & Knuepfer, A. & Esteban, M. & Shibayama, T., 2022. "A reliable energy system for Japan with merit order dispatch, high variable renewable share and no nuclear power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    12. Qi, Ye & Lu, Jiaqi & Liu, Tianle, 2024. "Measuring energy transition away from fossil fuels: A new index," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    13. Dahlia Byles & Salman Mohagheghi, 2023. "Sustainable Power Grid Expansion: Life Cycle Assessment, Modeling Approaches, Challenges, and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-25, May.
    14. Kuriyama, Akihisa & Abe, Naoya, 2021. "Decarbonisation of the power sector to engender a ‘Just transition’ in Japan: Quantifying local employment impacts," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    15. Yang, Ju-Ying & Dodge, Jennifer, 2024. "Local energy transitions as process: How contract management problems stymie a city's sustainable transition to renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    16. Hyo-Jin Kim & Jeong-Joon Yu & Seung-Hoon Yoo, 2019. "Does Combined Heat and Power Play the Role of a Bridge in Energy Transition? Evidence from a Cross-Country Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-8, February.
    17. Peng Chen & Zaijun Li & Meijuan Hu, 2025. "Spatio-Temporal Evolution Pattern and Driving Forces of Carbon Lock-In in the Yangtze River Delta Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-23, June.
    18. Youngjin Choi, 2018. "An Experimental Study of the Solar Collection Performance of Liquid-Type Solar Collectors under Various Weather Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-13, June.
    19. Jiancheng Qin & Jingzhe Tang & Lei Gao & Kun Zhang & Hui Tao, 2025. "Drivers of Carbon Emission in Xinjiang Energy Base: Perspective from the Five-Year Plan Periods," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-23, September.
    20. Dmitry A. Ruban & Natalia N. Yashalova & Vladimir A. Ermolaev, 2021. "Is Environment a Strategic Priority of the Leading Energy Companies? Evidence from Mission Statements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:211:y:2025:i:c:s1364032124010256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.