Abstract
Decision support tools are essential instruments in making informed
choices and decisions. These tools can be found in all organizations including governments and multi-corporations to even small businesses. The underlying knowledge
used to build these can span from the areas of pure engineering and economics, etc.,
to diverse interdisciplinary fields. Systems thinking is one of these multi-disciplinary
approaches which looks at problems and projects through a holistic manner. Energy
projects involve broad socio-environ-economic concerns, and system thinking seems
to be the right approach to take. One of the essential systems thinking tools for policy
and decision-making is System Dynamics and it was used for over 50 years. System
dynamics is based on causal variables and inferences that change over time. This book
chapter introduces system dynamics as the tool and goes step by step to develop a
methodological framework for the techniques required to approach problem solving
using this tool. At the end of this chapter, you will be able to think of an energy
problem in terms of system thinking and approach it to address issues that are unique
and specific depending on the available knowledge and within the various constraints.
Keywords
Systems thinking
System dynamics
Decision support tool