Fair closed-loop policies for fostering the energy transition: A control-oriented approach

The urgency of implementing effective policies to foster the energy transition and mitigate the devastating effects of climate change is undeniable. Nonetheless, the success of these policies is also closely intertwined with the necessity of preserving a delicate social balance when allocating resources toward a widespread transition. In response to this issue, we propose to adopt the recently proposed Fair-MPC scheme to introduce a control-oriented framework to aid policymakers in designing sustainability policies that are both effective and fair and evaluating existing policies by looking at these two key facets of sustainable technology diffusion. The modular design of our tool enables the assessment of fairness objectives integrated within the policy design strategy, striking a balance between impartial equality and inclusive equity with the imperative of cost minimization and effective diffusion of the transition process. Meanwhile, the flexibility of the framework makes it applicable to various scenarios, potentially representing a key tool in supporting all sectors involved in the energy transition. In this work, we prove its usability through its data-driven application in the context of the green mobility transition. Our analyses reveal that pursuing fairness objectives leads to a decrease (even if minor) in diffusion performance, underscoring the delicate balance between these frequently conflicting goals and highlighting the necessity of having quantitative tools to navigate the complexities characterizing social contexts.