Pub Date : 2025-04-11DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104070
Inessa Laur , Wisdom Kanda
There is an urgent need to decarbonize socio-technical systems for electricity. This urgency has led to the emergence of various types of intermediaries that bridge actors and their related resources, skills, and visions to catalyse change. While the roles intermediaries in energy transitions are well researched, their strategic positioning—particularly the conflicts they engage in, their navigation, and outcomes—remains underexplored. Addressing this research gap is crucial for transition governance, as it enables effective coordination among actors. Through an analysis of the electricity sector's transformation, we identify competing interests among intermediaries for resources, power, and legitimacy, as well as differences in visions and intermediation practices, as key sources of conflict. Navigating these conflicts requires adaptive strategic approaches, mutuality, and dynamic collaboration among intermediaries. This work contributes by introducing a conflict-sensitive perspective, providing insights into how intermediaries navigate conflicts to drive transitions forward.
{"title":"Navigating conflicts between niche and regime intermediaries in the energy transition","authors":"Inessa Laur , Wisdom Kanda","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104070","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104070","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is an urgent need to decarbonize socio-technical systems for electricity. This urgency has led to the emergence of various types of intermediaries that bridge actors and their related resources, skills, and visions to catalyse change. While the roles intermediaries in energy transitions are well researched, their strategic positioning—particularly the conflicts they engage in, their navigation, and outcomes—remains underexplored. Addressing this research gap is crucial for transition governance, as it enables effective coordination among actors. Through an analysis of the electricity sector's transformation, we identify competing interests among intermediaries for resources, power, and legitimacy, as well as differences in visions and intermediation practices, as key sources of conflict. Navigating these conflicts requires adaptive strategic approaches, mutuality, and dynamic collaboration among intermediaries. This work contributes by introducing a conflict-sensitive perspective, providing insights into how intermediaries navigate conflicts to drive transitions forward.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"124 ","pages":"Article 104070"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143815055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-04-11DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104060
Sally Wilson
Prepayment for household electricity services disrupts energy access by privatising the risks of disconnection within vulnerable households, justifying critical appraisal of the rationalisations and policy settings for its use. In Australia, prepayment is ubiquitous in remote Indigenous communities but is rarely used or banned in other locations. Despite a growing literature documenting the potential harms of prepay and its concentration in remote and predominantly Indigenous households, these issues have received limited attention in Australian energy policy debates. To progress the policy discourse, this qualitative study examines the policy origins and dominant rationales for use of prepay in different parts of Australia using causal process tracing. Drawing on an original dataset of over 1650 publicly accessible documents from the period 1973–2023, a chronology is established showing that prepay systems were first introduced in remote Indigenous communities in Queensland and the Northern Territory with subsequent use in varying contexts in Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia. Policy motivations differ between grid interconnected regions and remote Indigenous settlements. In interconnected regions, prepay emerged as a voluntary product associated with competitive retail market reforms and was subject to varying degrees of regulation but is now either banned or no longer offered by retailers. By contrast, in remote and some urban Indigenous communities prepay endures as a default or mandatory payment system – highlighting how settler colonial energy policies have consistently prioritised supply-side objectives within under-served communities subject to past and present injustices including pervasive energy insecurity.
{"title":"Disrupting household energy rights: Examining the policy origins of prepayment for electricity services in Australia","authors":"Sally Wilson","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104060","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104060","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Prepayment for household electricity services disrupts energy access by privatising the risks of disconnection within vulnerable households, justifying critical appraisal of the rationalisations and policy settings for its use. In Australia, prepayment is ubiquitous in remote Indigenous communities but is rarely used or banned in other locations. Despite a growing literature documenting the potential harms of prepay and its concentration in remote and predominantly Indigenous households, these issues have received limited attention in Australian energy policy debates. To progress the policy discourse, this qualitative study examines the policy origins and dominant rationales for use of prepay in different parts of Australia using causal process tracing. Drawing on an original dataset of over 1650 publicly accessible documents from the period 1973–2023, a chronology is established showing that prepay systems were first introduced in remote Indigenous communities in Queensland and the Northern Territory with subsequent use in varying contexts in Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia. Policy motivations differ between grid interconnected regions and remote Indigenous settlements. In interconnected regions, prepay emerged as a voluntary product associated with competitive retail market reforms and was subject to varying degrees of regulation but is now either banned or no longer offered by retailers. By contrast, in remote and some urban Indigenous communities prepay endures as a default or mandatory payment system – highlighting how settler colonial energy policies have consistently prioritised supply-side objectives within under-served communities subject to past and present injustices including pervasive energy insecurity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"124 ","pages":"Article 104060"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143815056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-04-10DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104061
Chihyuan Yang
Renewable energy (RE) installations are indispensable in achieving net-zero climate targets, yet the energy landscape is not solely constituted by technological artefacts. This assembling process, influenced by cultural, historical, and material conditions, is equally significant. This paper examines two empirical cases in Taiwan to illustrate the importance of local experience, sensory elements, materiality, and non-human agency in designing and siting photovoltaic installations. Drawing upon the Science and technology studies approaches of ‘co-production’ in sustainability transitions, ‘matters of concern’, and ‘ethno-epistemic assemblages’, the two case studies underline the necessity of iterative interactions between social-material concerns and RE technology designs. This paper suggests that RE technology should be considered a situated and responsive assemblage that is capable of resonating with multifaceted values. By documenting alterations in designs, material shapes, and co-created conservation plans devised in these projects, this paper provides insights for fostering a more flexible transition pathway, perceiving RE installations as fluid, adaptable assemblages that can coexist with and facilitate a more inclusive energy landscape.
{"title":"Assembling solar energy, agriculture, and shorebirds: Coexisting energy landscapes with typhoons and wetlands","authors":"Chihyuan Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104061","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104061","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Renewable energy (RE) installations are indispensable in achieving net-zero climate targets, yet the energy landscape is not solely constituted by technological artefacts. This assembling process, influenced by cultural, historical, and material conditions, is equally significant. This paper examines two empirical cases in Taiwan to illustrate the importance of local experience, sensory elements, materiality, and non-human agency in designing and siting photovoltaic installations. Drawing upon the Science and technology studies approaches of ‘co-production’ in sustainability transitions, ‘matters of concern’, and ‘ethno-epistemic assemblages’, the two case studies underline the necessity of iterative interactions between social-material concerns and RE technology designs. This paper suggests that RE technology should be considered a situated and responsive assemblage that is capable of resonating with multifaceted values. By documenting alterations in designs, material shapes, and co-created conservation plans devised in these projects, this paper provides insights for fostering a more flexible transition pathway, perceiving RE installations as fluid, adaptable assemblages that can coexist with and facilitate a more inclusive energy landscape.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"124 ","pages":"Article 104061"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143807286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Information transparency helps in building trust between intermediary stakeholders and adopters. Potential adopters seek information as they are learning about a new technology to make an informed decision. To this end, this article analyzes how intermediary installers communicate and market heat pumps, an important technology in residential decarbonization. Marketing communication by heat pump installers has been analyzed using an inductively and deductively developed coding system. Results show that 89 % of the 90 installers did not provide an estimate of the total cost of the equipment that homeowners can expect if they decide to adopt. This highlights areas of information that is missing, known as information gaps, that can be improved to increase heat pump adoption. The results reveal a tendency to over emphasize the energy efficiency improvements and expected utility cost savings from heat pump installation which were discussed by 84 %, and 67 % of the installers respectively. Building on the theories of diffusion of innovation, energy transitions, and corporate social responsibility, these findings reveal critical gaps in information transparency that undermines federal rebate program efforts to increase adoption.
{"title":"Transparent communication for residential heating decarbonization: A content analysis of heat pump marketing in Canada","authors":"Monika Mikhail , Aum Pandya , Quinn Webster , Ralph Evins","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104066","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104066","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Information transparency helps in building trust between intermediary stakeholders and adopters. Potential adopters seek information as they are learning about a new technology to make an informed decision. To this end, this article analyzes how intermediary installers communicate and market heat pumps, an important technology in residential decarbonization. Marketing communication by heat pump installers has been analyzed using an inductively and deductively developed coding system. Results show that 89 % of the 90 installers did not provide an estimate of the total cost of the equipment that homeowners can expect if they decide to adopt. This highlights areas of information that is missing, known as information gaps, that can be improved to increase heat pump adoption. The results reveal a tendency to over emphasize the energy efficiency improvements and expected utility cost savings from heat pump installation which were discussed by 84 %, and 67 % of the installers respectively. Building on the theories of diffusion of innovation, energy transitions, and corporate social responsibility, these findings reveal critical gaps in information transparency that undermines federal rebate program efforts to increase adoption.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"124 ","pages":"Article 104066"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143807289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-04-07DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104068
Inês Campos , Sérgio Maraschin , Kaya Maria Schwemmlein
This study explores the intersection of degrowth and energy justice, investigating how decarbonisation goals and energy policy pathways may perpetuate continuous economic growth while exacerbating social justice issues, such as inequality, lack of distributive and procedural justice, and shared responsibility for environmental concerns. In Alentejo, Portugal, the construction of low-carbon infrastructure and large-scale renewable energy production facilities for industrial expansion has sparked the rise of new civic movements and local opposition. Using a sociology of expectations approach and qualitative thematic analysis, this study examines data gathered through participant observation and documentary analysis to understand the diverse expectations of the stakeholders involved. The findings reveal that the depletion of natural resources and cultural heritage in the region is closely linked to a lack of transparency and accountability from both governance structures and private companies. Additionally, this research highlights several implications for energy justice and degrowth and their interconnections. By emphasising these aspects, the paper illustrates how the technological transformation of natural landscapes is often supported by tokenistic participation processes that largely overlook the concerns of local communities.
{"title":"Green, innovative, and unfair: The case of unjust energy transitions and civic resistance and opposition in Portugal","authors":"Inês Campos , Sérgio Maraschin , Kaya Maria Schwemmlein","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104068","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104068","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the intersection of degrowth and energy justice, investigating how decarbonisation goals and energy policy pathways may perpetuate continuous economic growth while exacerbating social justice issues, such as inequality, lack of distributive and procedural justice, and shared responsibility for environmental concerns. In Alentejo, Portugal, the construction of low-carbon infrastructure and large-scale renewable energy production facilities for industrial expansion has sparked the rise of new civic movements and local opposition. Using a sociology of expectations approach and qualitative thematic analysis, this study examines data gathered through participant observation and documentary analysis to understand the diverse expectations of the stakeholders involved. The findings reveal that the depletion of natural resources and cultural heritage in the region is closely linked to a lack of transparency and accountability from both governance structures and private companies. Additionally, this research highlights several implications for energy justice and degrowth and their interconnections. By emphasising these aspects, the paper illustrates how the technological transformation of natural landscapes is often supported by tokenistic participation processes that largely overlook the concerns of local communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"124 ","pages":"Article 104068"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143786295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-04-07DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104065
Fatemeh Khosravi , Christina Demski , Louise King , Larissa Gross , Matthew Scott
40 °C was recorded in the UK for the first time in July 2022 across the country. The UK Met Office predicts the UK could experience temperatures exceeding 40 °C every three years by the end of the century. There is limited data on how households cope and adapt to extreme heat. This research engaged with >1580 households across the UK through an online survey to explore household overheating challenges, their awareness of low carbon cooling technologies and how these challenges have changed over the last decade. Results show that the prevalence of indoor overheating reported in UK dwellings has increased from 20 % (2011) to 82 % (2022). While behavioural adaptations are still dominant, the use of air conditioners (ACs) has increased from 3 % in 2011 to 20 % during the last decade. If summer warming trends continue, our survey suggests, AC adoption is likely to increase, placing both a significant burden on electricity grid peak demand, and leading to economic inequalities, particularly among lower socioeconomic groups. It was also concluded that overheating experience is not solely reliant on building design and it can be influenced by range of factors including geography, dwelling type and household characteristics. Heat adaptation will require urgent policy to promote passive cooling strategies, enhance public awareness of heat risks and improve public communication to reduce heat related health impacts.
{"title":"A nation unprepared: Extreme heat and the need for adaptation in the United Kingdom","authors":"Fatemeh Khosravi , Christina Demski , Louise King , Larissa Gross , Matthew Scott","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104065","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104065","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>40 °C was recorded in the UK for the first time in July 2022 across the country. The UK Met Office predicts the UK could experience temperatures exceeding 40 °C every three years by the end of the century. There is limited data on how households cope and adapt to extreme heat. This research engaged with >1580 households across the UK through an online survey to explore household overheating challenges, their awareness of low carbon cooling technologies and how these challenges have changed over the last decade. Results show that the prevalence of indoor overheating reported in UK dwellings has increased from 20 % (2011) to 82 % (2022). While behavioural adaptations are still dominant, the use of air conditioners (ACs) has increased from 3 % in 2011 to 20 % during the last decade. If summer warming trends continue, our survey suggests, AC adoption is likely to increase, placing both a significant burden on electricity grid peak demand, and leading to economic inequalities, particularly among lower socioeconomic groups. It was also concluded that overheating experience is not solely reliant on building design and it can be influenced by range of factors including geography, dwelling type and household characteristics. Heat adaptation will require urgent policy to promote passive cooling strategies, enhance public awareness of heat risks and improve public communication to reduce heat related health impacts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"124 ","pages":"Article 104065"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143786296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-04-06DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104062
Jingyi Li , Cathy Hollis , Alejandro Gallego-Schmid
The decarbonisation of the heating sector illustrates the broader tensions between technological innovation, environmental sustainability, and socio-economic equity. Mine water, an indigenous geothermal resource found in disused and flooded coal mines, has the potential to address these tensions through its capacity to deliver renewable, locally sourced heat. However, despite its capability to alleviate fuel poverty, generate employment, and support net-zero ambitions, mine water heating remains underutilised in the UK. This study examines the barriers to implementation, focusing on the Northeast of England—a region historically shaped by coal mining and now marked by economic deprivation and social inequality. Drawing on 33 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, such as policymakers, industry representatives, local authorities, and residents, the research identifies a range of systemic obstacles. These include protracted and opaque regulatory processes, insufficient financial support mechanisms, and a lack of attention to social equity within policy frameworks. The findings reveal a disconnect between stakeholder expectations and the realities of project deliverability, as well as a narrow policy focus on climate targets that often sidelines pressing social sustainability concerns, such as equitable energy access and community well-being. This research argues for an integrated approach that repositions mine water heating as both an environmental and social intervention. Policy recommendations include creating ring-fenced funding for deprived regions, investing in capacity-building initiatives, and reforming governance processes to enhance project feasibility and inclusivity. Reframing mine water heating as a tool for achieving socially equitable energy transitions underscores its transformative potential for marginalised coalfield communities in the UK and comparable regions globally.
{"title":"Equity or profit? Understanding the social sustainability challenges of mine water heating network implementation","authors":"Jingyi Li , Cathy Hollis , Alejandro Gallego-Schmid","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104062","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104062","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The decarbonisation of the heating sector illustrates the broader tensions between technological innovation, environmental sustainability, and socio-economic equity. Mine water, an indigenous geothermal resource found in disused and flooded coal mines, has the potential to address these tensions through its capacity to deliver renewable, locally sourced heat. However, despite its capability to alleviate fuel poverty, generate employment, and support net-zero ambitions, mine water heating remains underutilised in the UK. This study examines the barriers to implementation, focusing on the Northeast of England—a region historically shaped by coal mining and now marked by economic deprivation and social inequality. Drawing on 33 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, such as policymakers, industry representatives, local authorities, and residents, the research identifies a range of systemic obstacles. These include protracted and opaque regulatory processes, insufficient financial support mechanisms, and a lack of attention to social equity within policy frameworks. The findings reveal a disconnect between stakeholder expectations and the realities of project deliverability, as well as a narrow policy focus on climate targets that often sidelines pressing social sustainability concerns, such as equitable energy access and community well-being. This research argues for an integrated approach that repositions mine water heating as both an environmental and social intervention. Policy recommendations include creating ring-fenced funding for deprived regions, investing in capacity-building initiatives, and reforming governance processes to enhance project feasibility and inclusivity. Reframing mine water heating as a tool for achieving socially equitable energy transitions underscores its transformative potential for marginalised coalfield communities in the UK and comparable regions globally.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"124 ","pages":"Article 104062"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143783172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-04-05DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104047
Ellie Martus
While thermal coal is front and centre of debates about climate change, metallurgical coal has received far less attention. This is despite its significant role in steel production and the substantial GHG emissions created during steelmaking. This analysis examines the politics of metallurgical coal in Australia, the world's largest exporter, and the extent to which this varies from our understanding of thermal coal politics. It asks how pro-metallurgical coal actors from government (state and federal) and industry discuss metallurgical coal's future in the context of climate change. Through a discourse analysis of documentary data including corporate communication, parliamentary records, and media coverage, the findings show how actors use discursive framings to advocate for continued metallurgical coal production and export. There are parallels between thermal and metallurgical coal discourses, with coal linked to the national interest, and emphasis on industry's contribution to supporting communities and providing employment. However, at the same time, actors have sought to reorient the industry around steel production. The fundamental role that steel plays in renewable energy infrastructure (e.g., wind turbines and solar panels), coupled with the present lack of economically viable alternatives to metallurgical coal in steel production, paradoxically means that metallurgical coal is central to decarbonisation – at least for now. Overall, this analysis this contributes to our understanding of the dynamic and changing nature of decarbonisation politics. It highlights the need to pay greater attention to the complexities of transition pathways, including the role that high-emission commodities like metallurgical coal may play in driving decarbonisation until low-emission technologies catch up.
{"title":"‘The road to net zero runs through the resources sector’: Metallurgical coal and the changing politics of climate in Australia","authors":"Ellie Martus","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104047","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104047","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While thermal coal is front and centre of debates about climate change, metallurgical coal has received far less attention. This is despite its significant role in steel production and the substantial GHG emissions created during steelmaking. This analysis examines the politics of metallurgical coal in Australia, the world's largest exporter, and the extent to which this varies from our understanding of thermal coal politics. It asks how pro-metallurgical coal actors from government (state and federal) and industry discuss metallurgical coal's future in the context of climate change. Through a discourse analysis of documentary data including corporate communication, parliamentary records, and media coverage, the findings show how actors use discursive framings to advocate for continued metallurgical coal production and export. There are parallels between thermal and metallurgical coal discourses, with coal linked to the national interest, and emphasis on industry's contribution to supporting communities and providing employment. However, at the same time, actors have sought to reorient the industry around steel production. The fundamental role that steel plays in renewable energy infrastructure (e.g., wind turbines and solar panels), coupled with the present lack of economically viable alternatives to metallurgical coal in steel production, paradoxically means that metallurgical coal is central to decarbonisation – at least for now. Overall, this analysis this contributes to our understanding of the dynamic and changing nature of decarbonisation politics. It highlights the need to pay greater attention to the complexities of transition pathways, including the role that high-emission commodities like metallurgical coal may play in driving decarbonisation until low-emission technologies catch up.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"124 ","pages":"Article 104047"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143776427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-04-05DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104051
Sadio Ba Gning , Edwin Muchapondwa
This paper focuses on the gendered impacts of energy access in rural areas. We examine gender mainstreaming and dynamics in the case study of the PUDC which address energy vulnerability in Senegal through rural electrification and others public services. The case study of the PUDC stress gender dynamics and explores its broader implications for sustainable energy access. With qualitative research using a multi-level participatory approach, data were collected from 210 individuals, 112 of them women and 98 men, in 16 villages of 6 regions (Matam, Saint-Louis, Louga, Kaolack, Fatick, Thiès), using 19 focus groups, 18 household interviews, and 19 key informant interviews with local leaders, women's associations, and PUDC partners. Findings of this research show that the logic of the implementation of the gender strategy, which targeted women and communities as a priority, had significant impacts, enabling women, the main consumers, to improve their status in households and play an entrepreneurial role (individually and in groups) and men to consolidate their role as providers, relocated to the village and diversified through the development of service activities. For sustainable access to energy, we suggest that gender equity be better addressed in the monitoring and maintenance of energy infrastructures.
{"title":"Standing up for women: Gender mainstreaming in energy policy in Senegal","authors":"Sadio Ba Gning , Edwin Muchapondwa","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104051","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104051","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper focuses on the gendered impacts of energy access in rural areas. We examine gender mainstreaming and dynamics in the case study of the PUDC which address energy vulnerability in Senegal through rural electrification and others public services. The case study of the PUDC stress gender dynamics and explores its broader implications for sustainable energy access. With qualitative research using a multi-level participatory approach, data were collected from 210 individuals, 112 of them women and 98 men, in 16 villages of 6 regions (Matam, Saint-Louis, Louga, Kaolack, Fatick, Thiès), using 19 focus groups, 18 household interviews, and 19 key informant interviews with local leaders, women's associations, and PUDC partners. Findings of this research show that the logic of the implementation of the gender strategy, which targeted women and communities as a priority, had significant impacts, enabling women, the main consumers, to improve their status in households and play an entrepreneurial role (individually and in groups) and men to consolidate their role as providers, relocated to the village and diversified through the development of service activities. For sustainable access to energy, we suggest that gender equity be better addressed in the monitoring and maintenance of energy infrastructures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"124 ","pages":"Article 104051"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143776428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-04-04DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104053
Aldona Standar , Agnieszka Kozera , Łukasz Satoła
The main objective of the study is to identify the main socio-economic, environmental and financial determinants of local investments supporting the development of a low-carbon economy in macro-regions in Poland in the EU financial perspectives 2007–2013 and 2014–2020. These conditions play a significant role in business practice, influencing efficiency of investment processes and effectiveness of actions towards low-carbon economy. The empirical research aimed to answer the following research questions: What is the role of municipalities and their subordinate units in the implementation of investments in developing a low-carbon economy in individual macro-regions of Poland? Did the experience of beneficiaries in absorbing EU funds for the development of a low-carbon economy in the 2007–2013 financial perspective translate into higher absorption of these funds in the next 2014–2020 financial perspective? Empirical research was conducted based on data from the Ministry of Development and Investment, Statistics Poland's Local Data Bank and the Ministry of Finance in Poland. The analysis showed that the high investment activity of local authorities in the first of the financial perspectives under review translated into even higher activity in the next one, with the degree of concentration in 2014–2020 no longer as high as before in individual macro-regions. The development of a low-carbon economy in macro-regions depends on a number of socio-economic (e.g., population density, net migration balance, and the number of business entities per 10,000 inhabitants), environmental factors (per capita water consumption in cubic meters), and financial factors (operating surplus and own revenue-generating potential per capita). These factors vary depending on the specifics of each macro-region, which can influence the unique approach to low-carbon economy development in individual areas. Research results have significant implications for the regional policy and management practices for EU funds. They suggest the necessity to develop support instruments for municipalities with lesser investment activity, increasing availability of training programs for local government employees, as well as promoting good practices at the local and regional levels.
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