Citizen, Consumer, or (Energy) Serf: Where Does Our Energy Future Lie?

Abstract

This chapter begins by introducing the reader to the many competing visions, expectations, and role(s) being placed on citizens in the energy system as it progresses to net zero. It introduces the reader to past energy transitions and highlights the social and cultural drivers of technical innovation, along with the unequal exchanges that arose as a result. Noting the simultaneous rise of European colonialism and the transition to fossil fuel economies, the chapter also highlights how energy has framed geopolitics ever since. Questions of power and agency are also addressed, and while it does point to some optimistic developments in the recent past, it highlights the very real potential for the current energy transition to slip into a more dystopian future than has heretofore been promised.