Search

International audience

International audience

International audience

International audience; Greenhouse gas emission scenarios are key in analyses of human interference with the climate system. They are mainly produced by one category of computer models: Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). We analyse how IAM research organised into a community around the production of socioeconomic scenarios during the preparation of the IPCC AR5 (2005-2014). We seek to describe the co-emergence of a research community, its instruments, and its domain of applicability. We highlight the role of the IPCC process in the making of the IAM community, showing how IAMs worked their way to an influent position. We then survey three elements of the repertoire that served to organise collective work on scenarios in interaction with the IPCC and the European Union, and which now frames the community and its epistemic practices. This repertoire needs to articulate epistemic practices with the pursuit of policy relevance, which shows how epistemic communities and patterns of co-production materialise in practical arrangements.

International audience

International audience

International audience

International audience

International audience

International audience; This book retraces the history of feed-in tariffs in relations with the European Union renewable energy policy from a sociological perspective. Feed-in tariffs are one of the most widespread instruments for promotion renewable electricity. By following their trajectory since their emergence in the late 1970s, the book explores evolving conceptions of renewable energy policy in the European Union at the intersection between environmental objectives, technological change and the ambition to liberalise the internal electricity market. The book is structured according to a chronology punctuated by key EU directives relevant to renewable energy policy. From this account, conclusions are drawn on the relationships between markets and policy-making as it is instituted in the European Union, as well as on the interplay between the implementation of a European vision on energy and national politics.

International audience

International audience

International audience; A partir du cas des tarifs d'achat pour le photovoltaïque, cette communication interroge l'accompagnement politique de la transition énergétique, c'est-à-dire les instruments de politique publique mis en place avec l'objectif de transformer le système énergétique et ses marchés. De par leur finalité, ces instruments sont orientés vers le déclenchement et/ou l'accélération du changement et de l'innovation ; en ce sens, on peut s'attendre à ce qu'ils génèrent de l'imprévu. Cette caractéristique reste peu explorée, notamment dans ses effets concrets et dans les tensions qu'elle peut générer. Or, du fait de la multiplicité de leurs effets, les tarifs d'achats pour l'électricité d'origine renouvelable, et en particulier pour le photovoltaïque, ont généré de nouveaux problèmes politiques et appelé des stratégies de régulations itératives parfois difficiles à mettre en place. L'analyse sociologique peut contribuer à la compréhension de ces instruments en action en analysant les changements concrets qu'ils provoquent. Pour cela, il lui faut s'appuyer sur des outils conceptuels aptes à rendre compte des politiques de transitions énergétiques dans leur caractère dynamique et partiellement imprévisible. Sur la base d'une étude détaillée de l'évolution des tarifs d'achat photovoltaïques français entre 2002 et 2013, on les caractérise comme des instruments dynamiques, à l'interface entre politiques publiques et activités économiques. Elle les décrit comme des agencements à la fois marchands et politiques qui cadrent un domaine d'action pour provoquer du nouveau et sont donc « débordés à dessein ». On expliquera en quoi la notion d'agencement socio-technique permet de rendre compte de tels dynamiques, et on discutera ce qu'elle peut apporter plus largement à l'étude des politiques incitatives dans le domaine de l'énergie.

International audience

International audience

International audience; One year after COP21 in Paris that reached to a global agreement on climate action, it is timely to come back to the scientific expertise that is part of the debates about climate change. The almost symbiotic relationship between scientific expertise and political discussions in this field is well‐documented (e.g. Shackley and Wynne, 1996; Agrawala, 1999; Miller, 2004; Edwards, 2010). This scientific expertise is not limited to climate science, but it is rarely considered in all its diversity, with physical and natural science drawing most of the attention. While the history and the role of climate scenarios/models and the development of expertise on climate change have been extensively analysed (e.g. Edwards, 1996, 2010; Guillemot, 2007; van der Sluijs et al., 1998), the development of socio‐ and techno-economic assessments in this fieldhas not received the same attention. However, these seem to play a crucial role in the elaboration of climate policy, insofar as they contribute to the understanding of the interactions between climate and societies. The rise of climate change on the public agenda since the late 1980s has prompted the need for quantitative assessments of the costs and impacts of mitigation strategies, in particular in view of the IPCC reports. To meet this demand, an increasing number of scenarios have been produced by Energy‐Economy‐Environment (E3) models. These gather different types of models – including the Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) – which help to reduce the complexity and heterogeneity of relevant processes, inform and to an extent frame international climate negotiations, by producing a large array of numerical projections and scenarios.This paper focuses on Integrated Assessment models (IAMs). It follows the co-evolution of the IAMs institutions and research community, and of their agenda of modelling efforts. We do so by focusing on the preparation of the 5th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report (AR5). IAMs are stylized numerical approaches which aim at representing complex socio-physical interactions among energy, agriculture, the economic system … as systems. Based on a set of input assumptions, they produce quantified scenarios (e.g. energy system transitions, land use transitions, economic effects of mitigation, emissions trajectories …) that helps us exploring potential climate policy strategies. They are a heterogeneous category that has gradually emerged from a set of distinct intellectual traditions (Weyant et al., 1996; Crassous, 2009). IAMs can thus be built on rather different assumptions: they can follow distinct logics and represent the same processes with different levels of details. IAMs and the scenarios they produce have grown central to the work of IPCC and seem to play an increasingly important part in climate negotiations and policies. Their influence has become particularly striking in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report through the work and contribution of “Working Group III” – entitled ‘mitigation of climate change’. During the process of preparing the AR5, Working Group III was chaired by one of the main actors of the current IAM research community. IAMs outcome and perspective were used as a guiding and structuring principle. IAM scenarios were expected to serve as bridging devices between the three IPCC working groups (which involve different scientific disciplines), albeit interviews suggest that the extent to which they succeeded in this respect remains unclear. IAMs influence has built up conjointly with the structuring of IAM research as a distinct field of expertise and that of IAMs researchers network through a series of European Projects and regular meetings. All of this contributed to the consolidation of IAM as a category of models with common – or at least comparable – characteristics. How did ‘IAM’ emerge as a relatively unified – though diverse – category and research field? How and where did the IAM community organise as such, and what is it made of? How have integrated assessment modellers organised the heterogeneity of their models so as to establish them as credible and reliable sources of policy-relevant expertise? How do they manage uncertainties, considering both the scope and complexity of the systems they study, and the many conceptual repertoires they draw from (physics, economics, systems dynamics, environmental sciences…)?In order to answer such questions, we conducted a first series of interviews with modellers and key players in the IAMs community. These were undertaken on different occasions such as: the conference Our Common Future Under Climate Change (OCFCC) (Paris, July 2015), the venue to France of the head of the Energy Modelling Forum (October 2016), two visits to major research institutes in this field (PIK and PBL/University of Utrecht). These interviews have been completed by observations during two conference sessions focused on IAMs: a side event entitled « New frontiers of integrated assessment of climate change and policies » during the OCFCC Conference, and the 8th meeting of the Integrated Assessment Modelling Consortium (IAMC) (Postdam, November 2015). Attending and observing these sessions gave us an overview of the debates among modellers, the diversity of their approaches, the key challenges that are discussed in the community, the potential tensions within the community, and the way in which this research field is structuring itself. Last, we analysed the main inter-comparison modelling programs that were developed between the publications of the 4th and 5th IPCC reports and the material that was produced on these occasions (reports, articles…). In gathering and studying this empirical material, we tried to combine two approaches: a sociological perspective on the communities, networks, practices and discourses relevant to IAMs, and an historical perspective on the emergence and evolution of IAM research in terms of content, objectives and communities.In our contribution, we will emphasize the role of the research programs that have been conducted in specific forums – such as: the Energy Modeling Forum coordinated by Stanford University, the EU FP7 projects…- looking at the way in which they contributed in setting the agenda of the modelling research community and in steering the production of scenarios. We will also analyse the mutual relationship between these program, their outcomes and the contribution of WG III to the IPCC process and outcome, in particular within the 5th Assessment report. Model inter-comparison is a crucial part of these programs which have multiplied since the early 2000’s. It consists in comparing the outputs of a range of models under similar hypotheses, usually focusing on one specific modelling and/or policy issue (e.g. technological innovation, land-use changes, etc.). Though it draws from similar practices in climate change research, the reliance on model inter-comparisons appears as a defining feature of IAM research, and it has played a role in the cohesion of IAM as a category of expertise relevant to climate policy.For instance, since the 4th IPCC report published in 2007, the feasibility of low carbon trajectories consistent with the 2°C target that was institutionalized in 2009 at the Copenhagen conference has been a key question. It was the subject of the main modelling exercises conducted by the Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) headed by Stanford University and European research programs, mostly funded by the Commission. From 1991 onwards, the EMF organized a series of workshops dedicated to climate issues. In view of the IPCC 5th Assessment Report, EM 22, 24, 27 and 28 provided a global inter-comparison modeling exercise around the 2°C objective target, at different scales (world, US and EU level). Each of these sessions gathered researchers with an expertise of the question under consideration and followed the same protocol: a first stage was dedicated to the elaboration of a set of common scenarios based on harmonized assumptions that were then assessed by models. Since 2007, another large part of the scenarios produced for the IPCC 5th Assessment Report has come from similar inter-comparison modeling projects funded by the 7th European Framework Program. This highlights EU’s growing political and scientific interest in climate policies over this period. The main findings of these research programs were synthetized in consolidated reports. They were published in international peer‐reviewed journals in the energy and climate fields. The results from these projects represent a significant part of the scenario database included in the IPCC 5th Assessment Report , which included over 1000 scenarios. The Integrated Assessment Modeling Consortium (IAMC), another and newer forum for discussing IAM research, also is a key arena for comparing IAMs and organizing priorities for future research. It was created in 2007 and was instrumental in the preparation of the contribution of Working Group III to the IPCC 5th Assessment Report. Besides providing resources and a setting for regular meetings of IAM researchers, IAMC puts a lot of efforts into the mapping and systematization of IAM models and scenarios, thereby contributing to their unification as a category of models.Last but not least, we will also investigate how, by fostering common problem definitions and methodological approaches within the research programs or the creation of the IAMC, these inter-comparison modeling have contributed to delineate an IAM community. Our paper will wonder to what extent the IAM community can be described as an epistemic community (Haas, 1992) which participates, through the production of socio-economic scenarios, to the framing of the assessment of climate policies in IPCC Working Group III. It will also reflect on current evolutions, in particular those related to the Paris agreement on climate change and to the emergence of potential competing approaches and forums focused on national assessment and practical solutions in its wake (e.g Deep Decarbonization Pathway Project). In doing so, it will shed light on the epistemic, institutional and social dynamics involved in the production, framing and diffusion of a very specific type of expertise about the future.

International audience; Renewable energy policy in Europe largely relies on market-based instruments aimed at inducing change in socio-technical systems. In the case of photovoltaics (PV), these have indirectly contributed to dramatic cost reductions and driven an exponential increase in installed capacities. Installed PV capacity in Europe has increased by 373 times between 2000 and 2012 (Jäger-Waldau, 2013).Feed-in tariffs (FITs) have been a central instrument in these evolutions. They have transformed makets and technologies but also society and politics. Looking at the effects of FITs « in action » sheds light on the implications and challenges of achieving political objectives through the creation and engineering of markets.

International audience

International audience; Entre 2008 et 2012, la coopérative des Fermes de Figeac a installé un parc photovoltaïque mutualisé dispersé sur une centaine de toitures. Ce projet visait à capter l'opportunité des tarifs d'achat lorsqu'ils étaient à leur plus haut niveau, mais également à la mutualiser et à la territorialiser. Pour analyser la constitution d'une capacité entrepreneuriale et financière adaptée au tarif mais capable de le transformer, cet article se penche sur l'articulation entre investissement, mutualisation et territoire telle qu'articulée et mise en oeuvre dans le business model du projet.

International audience

International audience

International audience; Cet article présente les résultats d’un projet de recherche (Climencored) conduit de 2011 à 2015 par quatre laboratoires de recherche en collaboration avec l’association CLER-Réseau pour la Transition Energétique. Ce projet s’est attaché à recenser les expériences locales innovantes dans le domaine climat-énergie en France en 2012 et à analyser les processus socio-historiques d’émergence de quelques-unes d’entre elles. Le terme innovant renvoie ici à des expériences ayant concrétisé des visions de futurs énergétiques locaux soutenables au travers d’une évolution du bouquet énergétique local (réduction de consommations d’énergies ; capacités de production installées telles que solaire photovoltaïque, éolienne, biomasse énergie ; développement de réseau de chaleur …) ou du développement de modèles inédits d’économie, de production ou de fourniture d’énergie (collectifs d’artisans proposant une offre globale de rénovation énergétique, financement citoyen ou coopératif de capacités de production, coopérative locale de fourniture d’énergie …). Il résulte de ce travail un certain nombre de résultats concernant tout autant des enjeux de méthode que de contenu des expériences innovantes. Ils font mieux comprendre ce qui permet à des territoires d’émerger comme innovants et ouvrent sur des recommandations orientées « solution ».

International audience; Cette contribution présente un point sur les initiatives climat énergie en France au niveau local en 2012 et leur facteurs d'émergence.

International audience

International audience

International audience

This thesis explores the recent evolutions of photovoltaics in France, and in particular the rise of grid-connected photovoltaics as it was triggered by support policies set up in the 2000s. The chosen actor-network theory approach leads to a material and relational descrption of French photovoltaics as modular technologies whose development was driven by political prices in the shape of feed-in tariffs for PV-generated electricity. From this perspective, the intertwinement of technological evolutions, market-making and politicisation is interrogated. After suggesting a description of photovoltaics as emergent and modular technologies and of feed-in tariffs as political market agencements, the thesis analyses the interwoven trajectories of feed-in tariffs and phootvoltaics in three sites. First, it traces back the constitution of feed-in tariffs as a dominant form of support for photovoltaics in the context of the development of a European policy for renewable energy. It then zooms on the French case, in which the overflowing of the regulated photovoltaic market triggered a political crisis and led to the reconsideration of photovoltaic support schemes. The last case study is a material account of the constitution of feed-in tariffs for PV-generated electricity into an opportunity and a resource for territorial development in the context of a project developed by a rural cooperative in the South West of France.; Cette thèse explore les évolutions récentes du photovoltaïque en France, et en particulier l’essor rapide du photovoltaïque connecté au réseau qu’ont entrainé les politiques de soutien mises en place dans les années 2000. Dans une perspective relevant de la théorie de l’acteur-réseau, elle propose une description matérielle et relationnelle du photovoltaïque français comme technologie modulaire dont le développement a été porté par la mise en place de prix politiques, les tarifs d’achat. Cela amène à interroger les liens entre évolution technologique, mise en marché et mise en politique. Après une description du photovoltaïque comme technologie émergente et modulaire et des tarifs d’achat comme agencements marchands et politiques, la thèse analyse leur trajectoire dans trois sites. Une première étude de cas retrace la constitution des tarifs d’achat en instrument dominant de soutien au photovoltaïque dans le contexte de la mise en place des politiques européennes de développement des énergies renouvelables. On se penche ensuite sur le cas français, dans lequel les débordements du marché régulé du photovoltaïque ont déclenché une crise politique qui a remis en cause les dcispositifs de soutien. Enfin, une dernière étude de cas explore le travail de traduction des tarifs d’achat photovoltaïque en opportunité et en ressource territoriale à travers un projet photovoltaïque mutualisé mené par une coopérative agricole du Lot.