| 1. |
- El Gohary, Fouad, et al.
(författare)
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Getting the signal : Do electricity users meet the preconditions for making informed decisions on demand response?
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 100
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Demand response refers to changes in power consumption by electricity users in response to certain conditions on the electricity market. Anticipated to play a major role in the energy transition, demand response is conventionally exercised through network tariffs, which serve as a medium for price signals intended to incentivize and guide electricity users on how to best behave. Considerable attention has been devoted to the unresolved question of whether users are willing to respond to these signals, a question premised on the implicit assumption of cognizant users making informed decisions. Less attention has been dedicated to evaluating the validity of this assumption, and the extent to which users actually internalize these signals prior to making any decision on how to respond. This study posits that prior to making an informed decision on how to act, an electricity user must first “qualify” through meeting a set of preconditions. These preconditions are captured by a proposed three-stage framework that involves i) receiving the price signal (being aware of the tariff), ii) processing the price signal (comprehending its features) and iii) assimilating the price signal (understanding how behavior influences costs). Evaluating this framework using a survey, the study finds that only 3.8–8.5 % of respondents clear all three stages. This minority is substantially more likely to contain older villa-residents, who are comparatively more concerned with their costs and read their bills more frequently. The findings of this study demonstrate that the “audience” of tariff-based price signals are a small fraction of what is commonly supposed, and that research and policy should shift from a dominant focus on the magnitude of these price signals, towards alternative or improved strategies for communication and engagement.
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| 2. |
- Envall, Fredrik, 1990-, et al.
(författare)
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Gridlocked: Sociomaterial configurations of sustainable energy transitions in Swedish solar energy communities
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 102
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Local generation of renewable energy in energy communities has long been around, but has recently experienced an upswing. This upswing is partly due to the EU Clean Energy Package (CEP), where energy communities are introduced juridically as formal actors. Within this policy package, various values are attributed to local energy communities, particularly emphasising broadened citizen participation. Also in academic contexts, energy communities are assigned an important role for a just energy transition. Considering this increasing importance and policy prevalence, it is relevant to explore what types of energy communities exist and are emerging in light of the CEP, and which values these correspond with. We do so by exploring how Swedish solar energy communities are configured and what values they foreground, through the analytical lens of problematizations. Exploring how different configurations entail particular problematizations elucidates how certain values are constructed as relevant, possibly to the detriment of other possible values, thus deepening our understanding of solar energy communities' potential contribution to a just energy transition. We discern a pattern in that particular values related to energy system optimisation are foregrounded, rather than other values such as democratisation, indicating the existence of a broader hegemony that shapes configurations of Swedish solar energy communities.
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| 3. |
- Hopkins, Debbie, et al.
(författare)
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Aeromasculinities and the fallacy of sustainable aviation
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 106
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite growing recognition of the material impacts of fossil fuel extraction and use, many economic sectors remain highly dependent on these fuels. Amid growing pressure to - at a minimum - appear to be doing something, businesses increasingly communicate the actions they (seek to) take to reduce their environmental impacts. Oftentimes they aim to build a sense of compatible coexistence of the sector with particular modes of sustainability. For air transport, 'sustainable aviation' has emerged as a container term for a suite of actions proposed by sectoral actors in seeking to align the sector with social and environmental sustainability. This paper critically interrogates 'sustainable aviation' through an analysis of the websites and reports of 14 international and regional airlines. Our analysis reveals the multiple and diverse ways that dominant logics (1) underpin the status quo, (2) depend on 'the science', (3) support techno-organisational changes and (4) prioritise sectoral growth. By recognising the gendered nature of environmentalism, we suggest that 'sustainable aviation' can be viewed as an active enactment of aeromasculinities - a gendered system of thinking, being and doing which forecloses radical action and change required for a climate-safe and just energy future.
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| 4. |
- Hosseini, Keyvan, et al.
(författare)
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A wolf in sheep's clothing : Exposing the structural violence of private electric automobility
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 99
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The world is running out of time to avoid cataclysmic climate impacts. Therefore, determining which decarbonisation strategies are more effective and inclusive in reducing anthropogenic dependency on fossil fuels is vital for governments' decisions on investment. This research argues that the electrification of private automobility is neither effective nor equitable. Considering the current electricity mix of the grid, this electrification merely shifts the CO2 emissions and other pollutants from urban to rural areas. The strategy of private automobility electrification does not look beyond the problem of tailpipe emissions and hence cannot eliminate the deficiencies of the car-dependent system that require system-wide solutions, such as traffic congestion and road accidents. Prioritising this strategy not only maintains existing inequities but also increases social injustice and delays the implementation of more effective interventions. We argue that using private EVs structurally violates the biosphere and human communities in three ways: (1) production of inequities, (2) pollution and waste, and (3) the space of the exception (the ‘Electric Vehicle Bubble’). Finally, we conclude that eradicating private automobility is necessary to realise climate and transport justice. Focusing on inclusive strategies, such as supporting public transportation, shared mobility, and active travel modes, instead of offering incentives for EVs, are the means of progressive redistribution of wealth and can satisfactorily meet people's basic needs and governmental climate targets.
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| 5. |
- Jayaweera, Ravi, et al.
(författare)
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Urban transition interventions in the Global South: Creating empowering environments in disempowering contexts?
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : ELSEVIER. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 106
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Changing power relations and the empowerment of frontrunners are considered crucial preconditions for sustainability transitions. This paper looks into the empowerment of actors in the context of a transition intervention in the Global South. We argue that empowerment is of particular importance in contexts of the Global South or those with illiberal characteristics. A holistic understanding of empowerment is needed to improve transition governance instruments in heterogeneous institutional environments. Therefore, we introduce a multi-dimensional empowerment framework that integrates empowerment effects in terms of resources, willingness and social capital and apply it to an ongoing transition intervention in the building sector of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We hereby explore in which ways and to what degree an urban transition governance intervention can contribute to the empowerment of frontrunners in the Global South. Our results indicate that empowerment effects were particularly noticeable in the social capital and willingness dimensions. While mental resources were expanded, a lack of financial means persisted. The study highlights the need to stronger engage with resource-related empowerment as well as the need for transition studies to develop interventions that succeed in balancing the creation of empowering safe spaces and the selective integration of state actors in illiberal contexts in the Global South and elsewhere. Finally, it also demonstrates that the application of a multi-dimensional empowerment framework supports a differentiated analysis of transition interventions, much needed given the complexities of the construction sector in the Global South.
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| 6. |
- Lund, Jens Friis, et al.
(författare)
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Net zero and the unexplored politics of residual emissions
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2214-6326 .- 2214-6296. ; 98:April
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this perspective article, we call for more engagement with the unexplored politics of residual emissions. Residual emissions are those emissions that remain at the point of net zero, despite abatement efforts. Unlike carbon dioxide removal, which has been the focus of a lively research and policy debate, the notion of residual emissions remains relatively unexplored so far. With the mainstreaming of net zero as the long-term goal of climate policy, the politics of residual emissions are set to become a key point of contestation. Claims about residual emissions tend to revolve around notions of necessity and possibility, i.e. emissions that derive from activities deemed socially necessary yet impossible to fully abate. In this perspective article, we highlight how such claims are socially constructed and ultimately contingent on values, norms and interests. We call upon researchers to help render visible the geographically and historically contingent claims to necessity and possibility that underpin projected residual emissions. We see this as an important means to repoliticize debates about the limits and possibilities of emissions abatement, and suggest entry points for such research efforts.
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| 7. |
- Magnusson, Dick, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Large technical systems in shrinking municipalities – Exploring system reconfiguration of district heating in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 97
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With this paper we aim to contribute to the field of sociotechnical studies, and more specifically Large Technical Systems (LTSs) to understand what happens in mature systems and how different segments develop. We argue that there is a need to discuss LTSs more heterogeneously to fully grasp how phases of stagnation and drift play out differently. Our focus is on district heating in Swedish municipalities with a shrinking population. As such district heating is an important system for climate measures in Europe and in Sweden it has a long tradition of municipal ownership and strong development. The emphasis is on the ways different district heating systems evolve and how various segments of an LTS develop. We have used a mixed-methods approach and the empirical material in this study builds on municipal documents and annual reports of energy companies, an online survey to energy companies, and qualitative interviews with representatives from energy companies and municipalities. Our results show that private companies are overrepresented in small and shrinking municipalities, and that they develop their business models around small systems to keep them profitable. Instead, municipal owned companies face several challenges concerning capacity, requirements, and economic profitability. From an LTS-perspective, the analysis shows how different actors in the segments adopt different strategies to manage stagnation, leading to segments drifting apart.
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| 8. |
- Melnyk, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Value dynamics in energy democracy: An exploration of community energy initiatives
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : ELSEVIER. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 102
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the European Union, energy democracy (ED) is considered a socially desirable policy goal. One way to achieve ED is through empowering local communities to become agents of value change who can pursue more sustainable and equitable energy provision with community energy initiatives (CEI). However, such people-driven value change is complex in nature. CEIs are multifaceted sociotechnical systems that bring together sets of values and are composed of agents (i.e., people), technologies (e.g., solar panels), and institutions (e.g., renewable energy policies). Yet not much research is conducted into how values relate and overlap within this complex nexus of people - technology - institutions on a pathway to democratizing the energy sector through civic participation. In this paper, we spotlight value relationality to capture the diversity in the value landscape of people-driven energy transitions. We claim that each sociotechnical system has "climate" of its own, or value dynamics, induced by interrelating values. We propose an account that captures value dynamics, explores value sets brought together by the different sociotechnical components of CEIs and investigates various ways in which these value sets interrelate. To elucidate value dynamics in the context of CEIs, we have conducted a literature review, a content analysis of regional, national (i.e., Dutch), and EU policies, and expert interviews in two illustrative case studies. We finalize the paper with recommendations for further research on value dynamics in CEIs across various sociotechnical contexts.
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| 9. |
- Rootzén, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Turning the tanker? Exploring the preconditions for change in the global petrochemical industry
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - 2214-6326 .- 2214-6296. ; 104:103256
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Meeting the goals set out in the Paris Agreement will require rapid and deep reductions of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) across all sectors of the global economy. Like all major societal transformations, this climate transition will impact both social and technical aspects of society and, depending on how it evolves, will reallocate social and economic benefits and costs differently. Recognising the importance of decarbonising key industry sectors with large GHG emissions and an significant impact on society, this study explores the opportunities and tensions involved in a transition of the petrochemical industry. We do so by analysing how access to natural resources, the petrochemical industry's role in the economy and the socio-political landscape in key petrochemical producing countries impacts prerequisites for change. The assessment shows that devising adequate policy responses, building legitimacy for change and potentially building bottom-up pressure for a timely climate transition are likely to look very different in the 10 countries with the greatest active petrochemical capacity in the world: China, the United States, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Russia, Iran, Germany and Taiwan. The indicators used to explore the prerequisites for change all point to areas where actions and policies must advance for a transition to be realised. This includes efforts to cap fossil feedstock supply and production capacity, efforts to limit and ultimately reduce demand for plastics and fertilisers, and measures to formulate transition strategies and policies that capture and provide agency for communities and groups that are currently on the receiving end of negative health and environmental impacts from the petrochemical industry and that will also, in many cases, be most closely affected by a transition.
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| 10. |
- van der Leer, Janneke, 1992, et al.
(författare)
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Energy systems in sustainability-profiled districts in Sweden: A literature review and a socio-technical ecology approach for future research
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research and Social Science. - : ELSEVIER. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 101
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Over the past 30 years, several sustainability-profiled districts have been developed in Sweden with high ambitions for the energy systems, such as Hammarby Sj¨ostad in Stockholm and Western Harbor in Malm¨o. Research into energy systems in urban districts is interdisciplinary and therefore spread over different areas, which means that an overview of the current state of knowledge and lessons learned is lacking. This semi-systematic literature review aims to provide an overview of previous research on the planning, development, and evaluation of energy systems in sustainability-profiled districts in Sweden. The review of 70 journal and conference articles reveals seven research themes in the interdisciplinary nexus of energy systems and sustainability-profiled districts: (1) Conceptualizations and critique of sustainability-profiled districts, (2) Evaluations of energy goals and requirements, (3) Technical and economic assessments of heating and electricity systems, (4) Integration of innovative (energy) solutions in urban planning, (5) Stakeholder perspectives on energy systems, (6) Stakeholder collaboration on the building and the district level, (7) Governance and policy instruments for sustainable urban development and energy systems. We use a socio-technical ecology approach to critically discuss the existing research on energy systems planning, development, and evaluation to guide future research on energy systems development in urban districts. An increase in integrated approaches across all identified research themes and relationships between scales, phases, and impacts are discussed as central observations that can guide future research. Future research is needed on new or better-adapted energy indicators, the inclusion, perspectives, and roles of (new) stakeholders, and the consideration of ecology and nature in research on the planning, development, and evaluation of energy systems.
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