Energy Research & Social Science最新文献

Desert or garden? Energy sacrifice zones, territorial affordances and competing visions for post-coal landscapes: The case of the Czechoslovak Army Mine

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science

Pub Date : 2024-12-03 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103876

Petr Klusáček , Filip Alexandrescu , Bohumil Frantál , Ondřej Konečný

The transition away from coal has often been discussed in abstract and disembodied terms. This paper aims to show how the post coal-mining transition is a territorially embedded process that is contested by local actors. We use the case of the Czechoslovak Army Mine in the northwestern part of the Czech Republic to problematize the role of local history (as an energy sacrifice zone) and of the features of territory (landscape, water and energy) in the post-coal transition. The argument is that this transition is shaped by specific territorial affordances, by the expectations that local actors invest in these affordances and by the changes induced from outside. All of these interact and create problematic outcomes at the local level. We flesh out these arguments using fifteen interviews and documentary material related to the CSA mine, all collected and analysed in 2023 and 2024. The findings are structured by the main development phases of the CSA mine, first as an energy sacrifice zone and second in relation to the current conflicting post-mining plans. These include post-mining lake(s), the liveability and usability of the post-mining space and the question of energy production futures. Across all these disputed plans we highlight the positions of local stakeholders and their calls for socio-economic and environmental justice.

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引用次数: 0

Retrofit information challenges and potential solutions: Perspectives of households, retrofit professionals and local policy makers in the United Kingdom

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science

Pub Date : 2024-12-02 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103866

Freya Wise , Aaron Gillich, Pippa Palmer

Rapidly scaling up energy retrofit for existing buildings is critical to help meet climate targets. Information is frequently identified as a key barrier to residential retrofit. This paper explores the role of information sharing in accelerating retrofit market transformation, through interviews and photo elicitation with homeowners (N = 9) and two workshops with stakeholders (N = 33) in a local authority retrofit project in Gloucestershire (UK). Findings are thematically analysed and suggestions for future local and national policy action are identified. The research finds that even for engaged, knowledgeable homeowners, accessing appropriate information is still a significant retrofit barrier. Two themes around the nature of information and information delivery are identified and key issues include information overload, a lack of context-specific information and in-person engagement, and a need for trustworthy, local information sources. Local authorities have potential to act as trusted intermediaries for structured, relevant retrofit information but require support from national governments to increase capacity and resources at local levels. National governments also have a critical role in providing clear and consistent messaging and leadership on the importance and benefits of retrofit. Policies around financial incentives are not sufficient alone and must be accompanied by strategies to overcome informational and other barriers if retrofit is to be accelerated in this decisive decade for climate action.

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引用次数: 0

Institutional entrepreneuring for energy poverty: The role of boundary work in developing a collaborative product-service system for household appliances

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science

Pub Date : 2024-12-02 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103843

Jonas Van Gaubergen, Erik Paredis, Thomas Block

This study explores a remarkable initiative named “Papillon” that aims to contribute to alleviating energy poverty by organizing affordable and context-sensitive access to energy-efficient appliances. The initiative involves a collaboration across societal sectors (civil society, business, government) and has used the idea of a product-service system to develop an appliance rental system for energy-poor households. As these kinds of “cross-sectoral” collaborations hold promise for contributing to complex societal issues but are notoriously hard to develop, we set out to trace the entrepreneurial process that brought the collaboration into being. To do so, this paper builds on and elaborates insights from institutional theory on organizations. More specifically we start off from Hjorth & Reay's (2022) recent account of institutional entrepreneuring and further develops it in relation to the empirical case of Papillon. In doing so, we arrive at a theoretical-analytic framework that focusses on entrepreneurs' configurational boundary work in the context of diverging institutional logics. In the analysis we show how four modes of boundary work – probing, arranging, buffering, coalescing – play a decisive role in bringing about a collaborative rental system for appliances that is attuned to the lifeworld of households in energy poverty. Our paper aims to contribute by (1) presenting and analysing a cross-sectoral approach to provide energy-poor households with access to essential appliances (2) developing a framework that brings novel insights into the formation of cross-sectoral initiatives that aim to create social value.

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引用次数: 0

A technology to solve the water-energy-food crisis? Mapping sociotechnical configurations of agrivoltaics using Q-methodology

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science

Pub Date : 2024-12-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103872

Matthew Cotton , Stephen Langford , Anne Kuria , Karen Parkhill

“Agrivoltaics” are solar photovoltaic panels mounted above productive farmland so that energy and food production can occur simultaneously on the same plot. Agrivoltaics are proffered as a means to reduce food-energy land use conflicts, and to ameliorate rural community opposition to ground-mounted solar farms. In this study we examine the socio-economic and environmental claims around agrivoltaics as a set of competing sociotechnical configurations, assessed through a Q-methodology and qualitative analysis of 30 responses from technical, NGO and social opposition respondents from 14 different countries. We find three emergent sociotechnical configurations, labelled: 1) Agrivoltaics for livelihood diversification and poverty alleviation; 2) Opposing agrivoltaics – asserting community control and procedural justice, and 3) Scaling up a ‘triple win’ for agrivoltaics – centring innovation and ownership models. We identify strong support for agrivoltaics in livelihood diversification across rural communities, and for meeting multiple food, energy and water security goals simultaneously. However, stakeholder opposition from technological intrusion of agrivoltaics in rural places and a lack of consensus on what role governmental authorities, landowners and community cooperatives can play are key barriers to deployment and upscaling of this niche technology. We find that agrivoltaics can stimulate diverse sociotechnical configurations of energy and agriculture, with great potential for improving energy and food security, though issues of visual intrusion and perceived ‘technology in the wrong place’, lack of clarity on funding and planning models, and improper scales of governance and procedural injustice could potentially stymie rollout for both smallholders and larger agribusiness schemes.

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引用次数: 0

Justice or just plans? Reviewing the energy transition strategy of Brazil's Ceará state

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science

Pub Date : 2024-12-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103865

Emilia Davi Mendes , Rárisson Jardiel Santos Sampaio , Flávia Mendes de Almeida Collaço

This study evaluates Ceará's Just Energy Transition Plan (JETP), located in Brazil, through the lens of energy justice, in the context of the global energy transition. While recognizing the potential benefits of this transition, the study also identifies risks of exacerbating existing regional socioeconomic disparities and energy injustices. By conducting a thorough review of energy justice literature, analyzing the legislative evolution, and systematizing documented cases of regional energy injustices, our research assesses the coherence of the JETP in addressing these issues. This study makes a unique contribution to the literature by providing an empirical analysis of policy intra-coherence in a Brazilian state within the Global South context. It underscores the critical need for policy frameworks that comprehensively address all dimensions of energy justice, ensuring a balance between environmental goals and social justice principles. The findings highlight the essential role of policy coherence in achieving just energy transitions, particularly in regions facing significant socio-economic and environmental challenges.

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引用次数: 0

The threat of AI chatbot responses to crowdsourced open-ended survey questions

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science

Pub Date : 2024-11-30 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103857

Frederic Traylor

Many researchers use crowdsourced and online surveys and open-ended survey questions to gather new ideas and concerns from the public regarding emerging energy and climate technologies. The availability of large language model chatbots, most notably ChatGPT, presents a threat to the utility of these approaches. While closed-ended questions and paradata analysis have been previously used to screen inattentive and ingenuine respondents, and open-ended question responses can be manually examined for unrelated content, these chatbots can mimic satisfactory answers to evade typical detection. Using a question asking people about their thoughts about hydrogen energy, in a side-by-side comparison of a managed panel sample (N = 834) to one drawn from Amazon Mechanical Turk (n = 1166), I find that responses from the latter appeared higher-quality but were more likely to originate from AI chatbots, even after screening based on close-ended questions and survey paradata. Survey designs should thus incorporate structural changes to prevent fraudulent responses, and analysis going forward must improve methods to detect them.

{"title":"The threat of AI chatbot responses to crowdsourced open-ended survey questions","authors":"Frederic Traylor","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103857","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103857","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Many researchers use crowdsourced and online surveys and open-ended survey questions to gather new ideas and concerns from the public regarding emerging energy and climate technologies. The availability of large language model chatbots, most notably ChatGPT, presents a threat to the utility of these approaches. While closed-ended questions and paradata analysis have been previously used to screen inattentive and ingenuine respondents, and open-ended question responses can be manually examined for unrelated content, these chatbots can mimic satisfactory answers to evade typical detection. Using a question asking people about their thoughts about hydrogen energy, in a side-by-side comparison of a managed panel sample (<em>N</em> = 834) to one drawn from Amazon Mechanical Turk (<em>n</em> = 1166), I find that responses from the latter appeared higher-quality but were more likely to originate from AI chatbots, even after screening based on close-ended questions and survey paradata. Survey designs should thus incorporate structural changes to prevent fraudulent responses, and analysis going forward must improve methods to detect them.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103857"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142747756","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}

引用次数: 0

Collective action without community? Perspectives from project developers and participants in citizen-financed photovoltaic projects

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science

Pub Date : 2024-11-30 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103856

Fabienne Sierro , Yann Blumer

Citizen participation and photovoltaics (PV) are increasingly important as energy systems transition towards decentralization and sustainability. However, tenants, low-income groups, and homeowners with unsuitable roofs are often excluded from investing in PV systems. Citizen-financed photovoltaic (CiFi PV) projects offer a more inclusive approach by collectively financing large-scale solar installations.

This study explores and compiles the various motivational factors that underlie CiFi PV participation and compares the prevalence of these factors among participants and project developers. By combining the two perspectives for the first time, we provide a comprehensive understanding of the motivations behind CiFi PV participation.

Based on 32 interviews across multiple Swiss CiFi PV projects, we identify 27 motivations categorized into seven overarching themes. The most prevalent factor for both groups is the opportunity for citizens to individually contribute to solar power deployment through tangible projects aligned with their values. While most motivational factors are relevant for both groups, a few are more prevalent among participants, such as the opportunity to use liquid assets, becoming a role model, and proving solar power viable and profitable.

While CiFi PV projects are often studied from an energy community perspective, our results show that interviewees value collective action through individual contributions without explicitly referring to community-related aspects. We thus suggest that CiFi PV projects represent a manifestation of energy citizenship. To promote CiFi PV projects and their potential to engage various kinds of individuals, policymakers should expand regulatory frameworks focused solely on community projects to support individual participation in the energy transition.

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引用次数: 0

“Cooperatives of convenience” and corporate appropriation of Ontario's community renewable energy policy

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science

Pub Date : 2024-11-30 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103849

Derya Tarhan

Community renewable energy initiatives often conjure images of grassroots movements and local activism. However, the reality is more complex. Recent studies have shown that private energy corporations are appropriating policy instruments reserved for community groups by forming initiatives that fit their organizational requirements. This paper presents the findings of a mixed-methods inquiry into corporate appropriation as it played out during Ontario's Feed-in Tariff program, specifically through its Community Capacity Set Aside stream. The quantitative portion of the study investigated the extent to which community renewable energy initiatives with private business origins benefited from the Community Capacity Set Aside. Semi-structured interviews with community renewable energy practitioners, representing initiatives of both community and private business origins, were conducted to reveal the perspectives of these actors on corporate presence in the sector. The findings show that 38 % of Community Capacity Set Aside contracts with an identifiable coop proponent were awarded to those with community origins, whereas the remaining 62 % were awarded to those initiated by private energy businesses. Leaders of initiatives with community origins expressed significant resentment towards the low levels of community rootedness and engagement shown by private business-led initiatives. This study highlights social origins as a significant factor in the formation of community renewable energy initiatives' purpose, processes, and community embeddedness. It also suggests that corporate appropriation of community renewable energy policies limit their energy democracy potential and should be averted through the inclusion of political purposes and community embeddedness in the qualification and evaluation criteria.

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引用次数: 0

Shining a light on disparities: A comparative analysis of residential photovoltaic adoption inequality in Australia and Brazil

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science

Pub Date : 2024-11-30 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103870

Gabriel Konzen , Rohan Best , Nivalde José de Castro

There is a growing consensus that the energy transition must also be just. In this context, the inequality in the adoption of residential photovoltaic (PV) systems is under scrutiny as solar energy adoption rises. Despite the existing evidence of the inequality in PV adoption, there is a need to examine how this issue has evolved across different contexts, particularly in developing countries. This paper aims to compare the inequality in PV adoption between Australia and Brazil over the last decade. The mix of methods includes analyzing descriptive statistics, a Solar Gini index, and regression models. The findings reveal that inequality in residential PV adoption in both countries has not changed substantially. Lower-income quintiles have faced lower adoption probabilities than higher-income groups. However, Australia demonstrates a better position, with a more equitable distribution of solar systems across income groups. The lack of inequality change suggests that technology diffusion alone may not eliminate PV access inequality for low-income groups. It emphasizes the ongoing need for targeted policies to enhance justice in solar access.

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引用次数: 0

‘Although it's my home, it's not my house’ – Exploring impacts of retrofits with social housing residents

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science

Pub Date : 2024-11-29 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103869

Hannah Charles , Stefan Bouzarovski , Rob Bellamy , Alexandra Gormally-Sutton

The UK is currently experiencing a cost-of-living crisis that is impacting access to affordable energy, which is worsening energy poverty issues. While the crisis continues, policymakers are attempting to meet climate change goals. Our paper discusses the ways in which energy poverty and energy justice are relevant to the shift to decarbonise the social housing sector. We use a case study of 22 interviews of social housing residents on an estate in the North West of England to problematise how retrofitting social housing to decrease energy consumption impacts residents' access to energy justice. Our work contributes to the emerging concept of retrofit justice, and we assess how the forms of tripartite energy justice occur through the retrofit project, furthering debates on retrofit justice. We find that while the housing provider made attempts to involve residents in retrofit planning, many residents were disengaged from the process due to disenfranchisement and misrecognition issues, contributing to limited procedural and recognition justice. We also found that while retrofits increased the energy efficiency of the buildings, this could not solve structural problems causing energy poverty, reducing the retrofit's capacity to deliver distributive energy justice. Retrofit is a hugely important aspect of meeting climate change goals, but energy poverty cannot be adequately challenged without structural changes to the electricity market. Our paper is based on a UK case study, but the findings are relevant to international conceptual debates around retrofit and energy justice and can be useful for any national context retrofitting their social housing stock.

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引用次数: 0