Search

The energy transition has provided a framework for designing and implementing renewable energy policies in a growing number of countries in recent years. The discourse from both international energy organisations and national governments around these renewable energy policies highlights its -supposed- sustainable nature. However, much evidence shows that the "renewable" component of these energy policies and the impact on local communities' sustainable development are much smaller than what is claimed in their discourse. This paper analyses the Mazar-Dudas hydropower project (Ecuador) case study, which is officially classified as a small renewable energy project (21 MW) with presumable low environmental impact and significant positive effects on sustainability of local communities. Although, the sustainability associated with hydropower production is one of the most controversial aspects of this energy production technology. Based on interviews with relevant actors and the subsequent thematic content analysis, the results highlight that the environmental impact is perceived as significant, contrary to what it is said in the official discourse. Additionally, the benefit-sharing scheme's effects of this hydropower project are far below expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coupling innovations in everyday social and technological practices to close energy poverty delivers local sustainable development. Although case studies on the linkages between energy access and sustainable development had been far-reaching, we know very little about their interactions in everyday practices, such as cooking. A focus on access to renewable energy for everyday activities as cooking has substantial implications for the energy justice principles of equity, accessibility, and affordability. Energy justice underlines the necessity for all people to have access to energy services fairly. At the same time, one should ensure that these energy systems do not inflict damage upon the present and future generations. This paper used a Grounded Theory approach to show how an energy transition in everyday practices such as cooking can deliver just, local, sustainable development while emerging as a sociotechnical innovation in rural Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2009 the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) was founded by several, predominant German enterprises. The objective of DII was to organise the conditions for the realisation of the Desertec idea, which aimed to both (a) supply Europe, in a large-scale manner, with electricity produced in solar power plants in North Africa and the Arabic peninsula and (b) contribute to the self-supply of the Middle East North Africa region (MENA). Protagonists of the desert energy idea saw this megatechnic project as a starting point for a new trans-Mediterranean EU-MENA union, critics in contrast as a neo-colonial project. Disputes over the adequate interpretation and implementation of the Desertec idea broke out from the beginning. In 2014/2015, the media talked of the failure of DII and of the Desertec concept. The majority of the members left DII at the end of 2014. On the other hand, in some MENA countries renewables are playing a crucial role in securing the future of the energy sector. This paper analyses the development of DII and the Desertec idea by using concepts from Social Studies in Technology, and especially by the multi-level perspective approach in Transition Studies. It shows how the interplay of different factors, such as technological developments, entrepreneurial performances and political processes, lead to internal conflicts and the non-realisation - up to now - of related large-scale energy projects. As an important aspect of the paper, different understandings of the future of our energy supply and of North-South relations are presented in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of fracking in the UK is at a crucial stage, with the industry seemingly on the brink of entering an operational phase. Despite this major development, analyses of its ethical dimensions have been limited. Concepts of environmental justice have been applied to the case of fracking to evaluate the ethicality of its development in the UK. However, these have tended to focus on a narrow range of environmental justice considerations. I argue that an expanded environmental justice frame can supplement existing contributions and provide a unified frame through which the ethicality of fracking in the UK can be further examined and evaluated. The paper applies an expanded environmental justice frame, which encompasses themes of distribution, procedure, recognition and capabilities. Considerations of justice as distribution highlight the unjust distribution of basic rights and the insufficiency of compensating benefits for the communities set to host fracking. An application of procedural justice questions whether community consent, even if present, would make fracking permissible when it is perceived as a solution to economic deprivation. I then argue that fracking in the UK constitutes an injustice as misrecognition, given its devaluation of communities through a neoliberal value system. An application of justice as capabilities frame outlines the risk of fracking being inconsistent with meeting basic needs for the functioning of individuals and communities, particularly in rural areas. Finally, climate and intergenerational justice are drawn upon to highlight the ability of the frame to incorporate these further justice considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of their democratic governance and value-driven approach cooperatives are often regarded as a prime example for alternative economies and contributing to (more) equitable economic development. Furthermore, they theoretically combine production and consumption and are often regionally-oriented. The recent boom of German renewable-energy cooperatives provides an interesting example of how cooperatives can also make an important contribution to sustainable development, here the German energy transition, and its social acceptance. The paper will first show how a specific regulatory environment supported this development and then analyse how German energy cooperatives cope with legal changes leading to less favourable institutional conditions. Based on a comprehensive survey, we examine whether they can, apart from their legal form, be regarded as alternative economies. Our analysis is guided by a set of criteria derived from Gibson-Graham’s diverse-economies framework, including voluntary and paid work, (origin of) borrowed capital, size and structure of membership, business goals and strategies, especially after the legal changes, as well as regional orientation. We will show how different categories of German energy cooperatives differ with regard to their business models, alternative-economy characteristics and coping strategies. The future development of energy cooperatives in Germany will very likely be as diverse as their recent history, thus illustrating the diversity of alternative-economy organisations as stipulated by Gibson-Graham. Most of them, however, deal with the new regulatory environment pro-actively and are developing business models, which are independent from public support and might lead to new cooperative strategies at the shifting interfaces between state, market and civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently a considerable emphasis on delivering major renewable energy infrastructure projects. Such projects will have impacts on local communities; some impacts may be perceived as positive but others will be viewed more negatively. Any just regulatory process for considering and permitting such infrastructure will need to heed the concerns that local communities voice. But what counts as a local voice? In this paper it is argued that the regulatory process plays a performative role, constructing what counts as a local voice. Furthermore, this has consequences for how regulatory deliberations proceed and the outcomes of regulatory processes. The empirical basis for this argument is a study of major offshore renewable energy infrastructure in England and Wales and the way that it is regulated through a specific regime - the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) regime established by the Planning Act 2008. Through a detailed study of eight projects that have passed through the regime, the analysis unfolds the way that the voices of local residents, local businesses, local NGOs and local authorities are constructed in the key boundary object of the Examining Authority’s report; it then draws out the implications for the mitigation measures that are negotiated. The research suggests that what counts as a local voice is constrained by how the performative role of the NSIPs regulatory regime differentiates between interests and suggests that new ways of giving voice to local people are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how 10 localities in the USA and England, recognised as leaders in clean energy and climate action, have used collaborative approaches to develop local climate change plans and energy conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy initiatives. It examines these planning and policy-making processes in the context of Margerum's [2008. A typology of collaboration efforts in environmental management.Environmental Management, 41 (4), 487–500] typology of “action”, “organizational”, and “policy-level” collaborations, as well as Gray's [1989.Collaborating: finding common ground for multiparty problems. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass] classification of collaboration in the “problem-setting”, “direction-setting”, and “implementation” phases. We conducted interviews with local elected officials, municipal staff, energy professionals, and citizen volunteers in each community, supplemented with an analysis of their adopted energy, climate change, and land-use plans. We find that despite the different government structures and political contexts between the two countries, there was a surprising amount of commonality in how the case study localities used collaborative planning to develop local climate plans and clean energy initiatives. These processes were most often initiated by local elected officials and/or high-level staff members, and then carried out in collaboration with local third-sector organisations and other community stakeholders. In the USA, collaboration was strongest at the policy level and in the direction-setting phase, with the distinguishing feature that citizen advisory boards or stakeholder working groups often took a more active role in shaping local plans and policies. The English localities had some of those same types of collaborations, but were more likely to also employ action collaboration, in the implementation phase, in which third-sector organisations coordinated with the locality to directly provide clean energy services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to shed new light on a much neglected area of equity issues embedded in the use of environmental goods and their links with an equally under-researched issue of the practical capacity of communities. The main focus of the paper is on the equitable distribution of opportunities for using renewable, low-carbon resources to become sustainable energy producers, especially, among communities which are aware of the benefits of sustainable energy generation. Drawing on a document review of governmental support programmes and findings from a survey of community energy projects in the UK, this study: (a) identifies necessary practical capacities and (b) examines the ways in which practical capacities are assessed in the distribution of opportunities. The study suggests that there is general lack of policy attention to equity issues in facilitating community energy. The paper discusses three potential reasons for such lack of attention: (a) an assumption about the ubiquitous existence of certain practical capacities; (b) a priority given to established communities/organisations as a policy delivery agency; and (c) an emphasis placed on technology diffusion. It identifies future challenges in improving the equitable distribution of opportunities for wider communities to engage in sustainable energy generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An international concern with climate change has prompted a political commitment to the use of renewable energies. Yet, the operationalization and management of this political objective may be frustrated at the local level, where, it is suggested, an implementation impasse exists. This paper reports on a case study that examines the planning issues around the harvesting of wind at an urban brownfield site in Scotland. The paper discusses the nature of the state-market-civil relations involved in the development management of private wind-energy infrastructure, and the potential for a positive mediating role for the planning system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote or off-grid communities in Canada primarily rely on diesel generators for the provision of their electricity. Often surrounded by potential renewable resources, they are characterised as the low-hanging fruit of greenhouse gas mitigation strategies. While much is said about the promises of community energy projects, as well as technologies and policy mechanisms for addressing the needs of these communities, little attention has been paid to what communities, themselves, might want for their energy projects and what the implications of those desires might be for both technology development and community energy policies. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the on-going energy pursuits of a number of remote First Nations communities in British Columbia. It identifies a desire for community self-sufficiency as a primary motivation for engaging with energy projects on the part of the communities and discusses the various meanings and implications of self-sufficiency in the context of community energy projects. These meanings and implications primarily include the two dimensions of material self-sufficiency and political self-determination, the latter of which suggests a view of community energy projects as processes of decolonisation among First Nation communities in British Columbia. It then suggests that the pursuit of this goal is somewhat incongruent with the approach that government and industry have taken in addressing community energy, especially the way in which remote communities are viewed as the low-hanging fruit of various sustainability projects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the UK, there now exist hundreds of low-carbon community groups (LCCGs) that aim to decrease collective resource consumption and/or generate renewable energy through diverse social and environmental interventions. These groups have in recent years become the subject of political attention and funding schemes, underpinned by beliefs that LCCGs are key to fostering resilience to climate change and meeting national-level greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. While previous research into LCCGs has focused on drivers, barriers and outcomes of LCCG action, there is now growing policy and academic interest in groups' capacities for, and uses of, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) processes and tools. However, little is known about the experiences, opportunities and potential challenges for LCCGs undertaking M&E. In response, this paper draws on a Knowledge Exchange project that explored M&E processes and tools with a sample of UK LCCGs. It outlines the benefits and drawbacks of groups' attempts to achieve change and to account for their outcomes and/or impacts, individually, and as part of a wider movement. It argues that, while M&E could be one way for groups to “scale up” their impact without losing their grounding in place and community, issues of capacity, resources and utility remain paramount. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Micro- and small-scale low-carbon energy generators embedded within villages, towns and cities can provide a valuable income stream for local communities among other potential benefits. There are a range of social, political, technical and environmental factors that may impact upon the success of a planned energy generation project; however, these factors are rarely considered in unison. The aim of this research is to investigate and understand the concerns relating to equity and distributional justice that impact upon local groups interested in developing energy projects and to determine whether a whole systems approach can be used to draw out perceived issues. This has been achieved by working with two small village groups to test a newly developed energy equity assessment tool. This paper reports research findings from two villages in the UK both planning energy projects that intended to benefit their respective villages and examines perceived issues relating to equity and distributional justice associated with the proposed schemes. The research highlights some challenges facing community groups when planning micro- and small-scale energy projects and demonstrates the commitment, tenacity and high levels of personal risk that these groups have to bear in order to bring their projects to fruition and comments as to the type of actions that may be required to more wholly consider equity issues while developing future energy policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, plans at the local level to construct wind turbines often find support as well as rejection – often in both cases for ecological reasons. In this paper, we argue that the key to understanding local wind energy debates is to analyse the interrelations between collective identities and concepts of place. Based on the discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, we analyse how two completely contradictory place notions have evolved in a local dispute in a small town in Germany, and how existing political identities have been modified, realigned and superseded in the course of the conflict. Furthermore, we show how the involved discourses are characterised by strong continuities with respect to an earlier struggle over an asphalt mixing plant. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In a review of policy frameworks for low-energy buildings and built environments over 20 years in England, the paper identifies a transition from the early years when the connection between energy and the built environment was only just beginning to be recognised, through to a more coordinated approach to carbon and buildings in the period to 2010. It identifies fives key trends: a greater reliance on regulation; the growing importance of the retrofit agenda; more tightly targeted subsidies; more finely tuned market-based instruments to shape and structures energy efficiency and decentralised renewable energy markets; and a shift from the dominance of market rationality towards a more nuanced understanding of how inter-related change in energy systems and built environments is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]