U.S. Department of Energy's
Introduction to System Dynamics (V 1.0)
Welcome to the Office of Policy and International Affairs's Introduction to System
Dynamics (V1.0). This online book was written to introduce
system dynamics, a powerful methodology for framing,
understanding, and discussing complex policy issues and problems.
Energy policy is well suited for a "systems approach" because
those who study, design, and implement national energy policy must not only
understand the
complexities of our nation's energy sector, but how energy issues
influence and "connect" with national policy concerns such as
economic growth, technology development, national security,
international trade, and environmental conservation, just to name a
few.
System dynamics helps the decision maker untangle the complexity of
these connections by providing a new language and set of
tools to describe - and even model - the cause-and-effect
relationships among various policy variables. The goal of
this online book is to teach decision makers how to identify the
underlying structure of their system or issue - a critical first step in effective policy design and implementation.
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