Empowered but powerless? Reassessing the citizens’ power dynamics of the German energy transition

Schwarz, Lucas

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2019.101405

Cited by 25 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Crowe and Li (2020) explore the issues of just transitions in certain US states for both coal and solar [15] . Sovacool and Brisbois (2019) explore the role of “elite power” in these transitions, while Schwarz (2020) considered the role of citizen power as did Thombs (2019) [16] , [17] , [18] . Both Bayulgen (2020) and Seidl (2019) looked as socio-economic aspects of specific energy transitions [19] , [20] .…”

Section: Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Just transitions: Histories and futures in a post-COVID world

Henry

Bazilian

Markuson³

2020

Energy Research & Social Science

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The energy landscape is changing dramatically. Communities are being impacted in different ways. Positive impacts include reductions in air pollution and new tax revenues from renewables. Negative impacts include lost jobs and foregone tax revenues after closure of large fossil fuels generation facilities and coal mines. The contours of this transition have been further altered by recent events such as the global oil market crash and the COVID-19 pandemic. While economic and social issues can be addressed through thoughtful policy design, the pace of change, and the extent to which communities have a say in what comes next, matter. Though the technical issues of transitions are well-researched, the socio-economic aspects of the energy transition remain both emergent and essential to an equitable transition to a low-carbon energy system. This article provides an overview of the history and current status of just transitions.

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Section: Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Just transitions: Histories and futures in a post-COVID world

Henry

Bazilian

Markuson³

2020

Energy Research & Social Science

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“…However, while important and perhaps key in decision-making processes, the political domain is not the only domain in which citizens can participate in the energy transition [55,58,59]. In Europe, thousands of energy cooperatives have been founded by citizens, reinventing social business models, owning social energy enterprises, and sharing energy production and provision.…”

Section: Sustainability Transition Processes People and Placementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As mentioned, despite the many roles citizens may have in energy transition development, the MLP does not consider civil society, including citizens, as a structural element [58]. At best, citizens are labelled as 'users', as part of the market, or as actors in policymaking.…”

Section: Sustainability Transition Processes People and Placementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the different operationalisations of citizen participation as discussed in the previous section, we investigate how local actors were involved in the transition process on Ameland. Based on the literature, we consider four potential roles of local actors and stakeholders: first, as agents in formal and informal policy and decision-making processes; second, as consumers; third, as designers or experimenters; and finally, as shareholders in cooperatives or other economic entities [12,55,58,59].…”

Section: Operational Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Islands as Playing and Breeding Grounds for Incumbents, Entrepreneurial Technologists, Policymakers, and Engaged Citizens: The Case of Energy Transition on Ameland

Dam

Windt

2022

Sustainability

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Increasingly, discussions on sustainability, in particular in relation to energy transition, are finding their way to the regional and local political arena. Although for analysing transition pathways on these sub-national scales, conceptual frameworks such as the multi-level perspective may be helpful, some issues remain relatively unaddressed: the relevance of citizens and their social networks and the precise interactions between place, the local context, and external conditions. This paper aims to better understand energy transition processes on the local and regional scale by analysing the case of the Dutch island of Ameland. Since 2006, Ameland has been on a sustainability pathway towards self-sufficiency, in particular in terms of reducing CO₂ emissions. In this case study, we conducted in-depth empirical analysis, using a mixed-methods approach, including document analysis and ethnographic techniques. In a five-stage development process, a combination of place-related niche development, regime developments, and the involvement of citizens have created a protective space for several socio-technological innovations to emerge. The unique combination of specific local conditions, in particular political and cultural, and external influences, national policy, and ‘enlightened’ companies have shaped ideal conditions for Ameland to become an inspiring example of innovation in regional transition processes.

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“…Distributed low-carbon energy technologies such as solar panels and heat pumps can be deployed in houses, allowing people to become prosumers, meaning proactive consumers that possess assets for local energy generation, conversion and/or storage capable of also producing energy [3,4]. The energy citizenship literature presents citizens as central actors who can contribute to increasing energy security [5], addressing different types of injustices [6], boosting sustainable innovations and market developments [7], and also halting the placement of harmful fossil energy projects in their localities through protesting and stalling [8]. Citizen energy is a contested concept, with multiple complementary definitions that constantly evolve in the literature [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%