SPECULAR
Multi-scale assessment of the feasibility and impacts of industrial decarbonization strategies based on efficiency and sufficiency
Funding : PEPR SPLEEN (decarbonisation of industry)
Start /project duration : october 2025 / 4.5 years
Partners : Ecole des Ponts Paris Tech (coordinator), Mines Paris, Université de Caen.
The project aims to explore and evaluate concrete options for decarbonizing industry, drawing on the concept of sufficiency as defined by the IPCC as “a set of policy measures and everyday practices that avoid demand for energy, materials, land, water, and other natural resources, while ensuring the well-being of all within planetary boundaries.”
The SPECULAR project will focus on concrete cases of implementation; adopt a multi-scale and interdisciplinary approach; and develop a resolutely participatory approach.
Three case studies
raising complex issues for the industrial sector have been identified for and
will be examined in three work-packages (WP). WP1 aims to study the feasibility
and industry implications of car downsizing. WP2 aims to investigate value
chains relocation in energy transition industries. WP3 aims to position
sufficiency-based strategies for decarbonising the plastics industry. We will
take an interdisciplinary approach to each case study, combining three
disciplinary fields: (1) political and regulatory analysis, (2) sociological
and socio-technical analysis, (3) economic analysis and prospective modelling.
The SPECULAR project
will deliver key outputs on sufficiency-based decarbonisation strategies for
industry. It will produce: (1) mapping of regulations and policies that affect
these strategies; (2) analyses of societal drivers and barriers, along with
solutions; and (3) assessments of impacts on emissions, employment, and
macroeconomics.
An additional WP4 is dedicated to generating cross-cutting features and generalizing the decarbonization of the industrial sector, based on lessons learned from the other work packages.
These results will initially focus on case studies, with broader generalizations explored in WP4.
The project will involve a wide range of stakeholders in the decarbonization process, including industry leaders, public policy actors, and transition activists. These stakeholders will be mobilized through field surveys for the case studies (WP1 to 3), the implementation of the Living Lab approach to enhance the operationality of the results (WP4), and the creation of a stakeholder committee.