From Supply Security to Sustainability Security: A Glossary of System Integration and Flexibility for the Circular Bioeconomy
Year: 2026
Type: dataset
Abstract: Infrastructure planning has long relied on supply security: continuous, unconditional supply from centralized plants, with reliability bought through reserves and efficiency through scale. Biological, seasonal and distributed resources do not fit that model. This glossary defines 14 core terms of an alternative principle, sustainability security. Systems are deliberately diversified and integrated, and the resulting flexibility is operated so that resource efficiency and reliability improve together while systemic risks and cascading failures are contained. A clickable concept map shows how the terms relate, from diversification and integration through flexibility and flexible operation to their benefits, risks and goal. A further sheet explains the four dimensions of flexibility: temporal, spatial, sectoral and actor. Each term lists related terms from neighbouring fields, such as sector coupling, industrial symbiosis and process integration. The glossary is a living resource and will grow into a cross-disciplinary thesaurus. Suggestions for terms or synonyms from your field are welcome: [email protected]
Author: Schipfer, Fabian
Institutions: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, TU Wien
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7224076945