Energy Injustice and Nordic Electric Mobility: Inequality, Elitism, and Externalities in the Electrification of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Transport

Decarbonization and its discontents: a critical energy justice perspective on four low-carbon transitions

“…To analyze and filter our data across our four case studies, we utilize a specific holistic framework of energy justice recently presented by McCauley et al (2019) and Sovacool et al (2019). This approach consists of four interconnected aspects of modern justice theory: distributive justice, procedural justice, cosmopolitan justice, and justice as recognition.…”

“…As McCauley et al (2019) and Sovacool et al (2019) explore, distributive justice deals with how social goods and ills are allocated across society. Generally, distributive justice deals with spatial and temporal issues that can be divided into three aspects of distribution: identifying the goods and ills that are being distributed (e.g., food, clothing, power, wealth, or respect); identifying the entities between whom or what they are to be distributed (e.g., members of certain communities or stakeholders, certain generations, all of humankind); and identifying the most appropriate mode of distribution as well as what this is based on (e.g., status, need, merit, rights).…”

“…By asking these questions, we aim to unveil, firstly, those who may be vulnerable and negatively impacted, and, secondly, the underlying political and structural issues that recreate vulnerabilities in low-carbon transitions. We answer these questions by first elaborating an energy justice framework consisting of four distinct dimensions: distributive justice (costs and benefits), procedural justice (due process), cosmopolitan justice (global externalities), and recognition justice (vulnerable groups) (McCauley et al 2019;Sovacool et al 2019). We then examine four European transitions being promoted as templates for low-carbon policy around the world-nuclear power in France, 1 smart meters in Great Britain, electric vehicles in Norway, and solar energy in Germany-through this critical justice lens.…”

Governance and Legitimation in the Transition to Nordic Electric Mobility

“…However, even though the Nordic transition is underway, it has not been without its crises and contestations. Drawing from the empirical data from the NV2G project presented in Sovacool et al (2019), this section explores these four challenges: inequitable access to EVs, exclusion and elitism in national planning, the creation of global externalities, and the worsening of some social vulnerabilities.…”

“…In addition, many of the areas of contestation, or the issues of equity and vulnerability that arise, are not "new" to EVs or V2G-they likely exist with other low carbon technologies and also conventional cars and other forms of mobility. However, a lesson here is perhaps that changing the perfor- Sovacool et al (2019) Note: EV = Electric vehicle, V2G = Vehicle-to-grid, EVSE = Electric vehicle supply equipment mance or engine of a vehicle, or introducing a new type of car such as an EV or an innovation such as V2G, does not necessarily change the underlying political economy or power dynamics behind mobility or automobility. Systems of mobility themselves-involving multiple, competing and overlapping technologies, modes of mobility, and transport infrastructurescan also be just or unjust, even if they utilise innovations such as EVs or V2G that have material potential to reduce environmental and social harms.…”