Enabling an equitable energy transition through inclusive research

Ravikumar, Arvind P.; Baker, Erin; Bates, Alison; Nock, Destenie; Venkataraman, D.; Johnson, T.; Ash, M.; Attari, S. Z.; Bowie, K.; Carley, Sanya; Castellanos, Sergio; Cha, Min-Seok; Clark, D. L.; Deane-Ryan, D.; Djokic, D.; Ford, J. C.; Goldstein, Anna P.; Grubert, Emily; Hu, Li; Kammen, Daniel M.; Kosar, U.; Miller, Clark A.; Pastor, Manuel; Tuominen, M.

doi:10.1038/s41560-022-01145-z

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…However, our review suggests that most papers did not explicitly explain what is meant by equity and how to measure it to consider different outcomes and equity principles. This underscores the importance of putting equity at the center of energy research, as proposed by the research community in recent years [66,67].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Equity implications of electric vehicles: A systematic review on the spatial distribution of emissions, air pollution and health impacts

Sharma

Shiwang

Lee

et al. 2023

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Scaling up electric vehicles (EVs) provides an avenue to mitigate both carbon emissions and air pollution from road transport. The benefits of EV adoption for climate, air quality, and health have been widely documented. Yet, evidence on the distribution of those impacts has not been systematically reviewed, despite its central importance to ensure a just and equitable transition. Here we perform a systematic review of recent EV studies that have examined the spatial distribution of the emissions, air pollution, and health impacts, as an important aspect of the equity implications. Using the Context-Interventions-Mechanisms-Outcomes (CIMO) framework with a two-step search strategy, we narrowed down to 49 papers that met our inclusion criteria for detailed review and synthesis. We identified two key factors that have been found to influence the spatial distributions. First, the cross-sectoral linkages may result in unintended impacts elsewhere. For instance, the generation of electricity to charge EVs, and the production of batteries and other materials to manufacture EVs could increase the emissions and pollution in locations other than where EVs are adopted. Second, since air pollution and health are local issues, additional location-specific factors may play a role in determining the spatial distribution, such as the wind transport of pollution and the size and vulnerability of the exposed populations. Based on our synthesis of existing evidence, we highlight two important areas for further research: 1) fine-scale pollution and health impact assessment to better characterize exposure and health disparities across regions and population groups; and 2) a systematic representation of the EV value chain that captures the linkages between the transport, power and manufacturing sectors as well as the regionally-varying activities and impacts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Equity implications of electric vehicles: A systematic review on the spatial distribution of emissions, air pollution and health impacts

Sharma

Shiwang

Lee

et al. 2023

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…The comparative results can be further demonstrated as follows: Under the established conditions of the current energy economy system, the excessive pursuit of improving the energy transformation efficiency will adversely affect the achievement of one's energy transformation justice, while only focusing on improving the energy transformation justice will impair the optimization of the energy transformation efficiency conceivably (Ravikumar et al, 2022). Objectively speaking, the efficiency and the justice are not just a zero‐sum game if the energy transformation system has a self‐adjustable rule.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Academia has always been debating the sustainable energy transformation around efficiency and justice. Ravikumar et al (2022) believe that technological change with the efficiency rules playing a central role in energy transformation. With the help of the clean energy power generation, the carbon capture and storage, or the energy efficiency investment and regulatory efforts, the efficiency of energy transformation can be improved.…”

Section: Research Trend Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the efficiency and the justice of energy transformation for the United States of America, China, and the European Union

Liu

Zhao

Han

2023

Sustainable Development

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A conceptual framework is constructed to discuss the Energy Transformation Efficiency and the Energy Transformation Justice for Carbon Neutrality and sustainable development. Both the Slack Based Measure‐based Efficiency Model and the improved Energy Transformation Justice Model are applied to measure the transformation efficiency and the transformation justice respectively. Then for empirical analysis, the influencing mechanism of the energy transformation efficiency and justice on the energy economy is analyzed by using the panel data of the USA, China and the EU from 2000 to 2020 with the Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR). The results reveal that: The energy transformation efficiency requires a subtle balance between three essential inputs and two important outputs, while the energy transformation justice associated with five dimensions can describe both the equal opportunity and the procedural justice. Both the energy transformation efficiency and the energy transformation justice are improving year by year, and they are not completely mutually exclusive at present. As far as the performance is concerned, the EU is the best of all at both the efficiency and the justice, the USA is better than China at the justice, but China is better than the USA at the efficiency. In terms of interrelationship, there is an obvious Regime Switching Effect when the energy transformation efficiency and justice influencing on the energy economy growth. Furthermore, note that the state transition of both the efficiency and the justice can be limited by the economic situation of energy sector in each economy.

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“…For instance, disability and low educational and other socioeconomic disadvantages may keep the labor force trapped in a spiral of low-skilled jobs, while low-reward jobs in agriculture, fishing, and mining will push people further into low-income and poverty traps, making it more difficult to escape energy poverty. We should ensure a just transition in the implementation of a clean energy transition [64], considering the potential labor disruption or income loss for lowskilled jobs such as coal miners [65,66]. In addition, studies in the UK highlight the viability of several policy interventions to address projected future impacts of climate change, electrification, and household energy affordability [67].…”

Section: Conclusion and Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hot or cold temperature disproportionately impacts U.S. energy burdens

Yu,

Kittner

2024

Environ. Res. Lett.

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The lack of affordable, reliable, and resilient energy services remains a challenge for many U.S. households. Few studies have investigated how temperature makes already vulnerable Black, low-income, and less-educated households more likely to experience energy poverty. We construct a unique 8-year historical panel dataset to unpack the relationship between temperatures and energy burdens, paying specific attention to additional burdens among the most vulnerable groups. We find that hot and cold temperatures have further exacerbated the disproportionate impact on energy burdens across multiple vulnerable groups. Extremely low-income groups are ~6 times more adversely affected by temperatures than high-income groups. Temperatures also put other already marginalized groups, such as those less-educated/unemployed/living in energy-inefficient old houses, at higher risk of falling into an energy poverty trap. Considering temperatures are the dominant feature differentiating households in their ability to meet basic electricity needs, we recommend more equitable and inclusive electrification strategies and compensation mechanisms for affected communities to improve energy equity.

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Enabling an equitable energy transition through inclusive research

Cited by 20 publications

References 18 publications

Equity implications of electric vehicles: A systematic review on the spatial distribution of emissions, air pollution and health impacts

Equity implications of electric vehicles: A systematic review on the spatial distribution of emissions, air pollution and health impacts

Assessing the efficiency and the justice of energy transformation for the United States of America, China, and the European Union

Hot or cold temperature disproportionately impacts U.S. energy burdens

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