Energy justice discourses in citizen deliberations on systems flexibility in the United Kingdom: Vulnerability, compensation and empowerment

Abstract

This article details the application of energy justice as an analytic lens for exploring social acceptability of energy systems flexibility and governance in the UK. Drives towards the uptake of inflexible, low-carbon generation technologies are expected to generate new challenges for balancing energy supply with demand, requiring changes in network management. From the uptake of new storage technologies to shifts in practices and governance, such changes may impact on everyday energy users in a variety of ways. Drawing on data collected from deliberative workshops conducted in England, Scotland and Wales, we examine how members of the public interpret and respond to six models for governing future, more flexible energy systems. In so doing, we illustrate the value of energy justice literature in making sense of the ways citizens identify and balance concerns relating to how distributions of needs, capacities, and benefits, may shape novel forms of energy system participation. We also draw attention to the ways in which alternative discourses about fairness rooted in neoliberal understandings of market exchange may interact with and contradict more socially salient understandings of flexibility justice rooted in concern for vulnerable groups.

Contextualizing the Covid-19 pandemic for a carbon-constrained world: Insights for sustainability transitions, energy justice, and research methodology

“…This could help achieve a “Christmas” or “Coronavirus” effect for energy and climate policy that encompasses: Instructing people how to immediately reduce their carbon footprints (e.g. using energy efficient technologies in their homes, eating less meat, avoiding air travel [42] ); Bolstering infrastructure, institutions and industrial strategy (e.g.. incentives for clean energy manufacturing and deployment including wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles [43] ); Building capacity to mitigate, monitor and manage emergency measures (e.g., tracking plans for universal energy access and SDG7, deployment of micro grids, bans on disconnection [44] ); Properly financing social responses in ways commensurate to the challenge (e.g., substantially increase funding for national and multinational climate and development organizations or green investment banks, investment for deployment of low-carbon technologies and infrastructure [45] , [46] ); Restoring economic activity gradually and via approaches that are backed by science (e.g., development pathways synchronized to the NDCs of the Paris Accord or the findings of the IPCC, investment of economic stimulus funds in low-carbon technologies, Green New Deals [47] , [48] , [49] ); Harnessing innovation and the development of new technologies (e.g., the next generation of transport fuels, energy storage, smart grids or hydrogen fuel cells) [50] , [51] , [52] ; Utilizing trusted institutions and individuals to convey persistent and repeated information, messages and narratives in ways that resonate with audiences (e.g., major news outlets, the IPCC, governments, major corporations, churches, restaurants and celebrities sent persistently through various media channels) [53] , [54] , [55] , [56] ; While undertaking these steps, protecting the vulnerable (e.g., households in energy or mobility poverty, marginalized groups or indigenous peoples) [57] , [58] , [59] , [60] . …”

“…While undertaking these steps, protecting the vulnerable (e.g., households in energy or mobility poverty, marginalized groups or indigenous peoples) [57] , [58] , [59] , [60] .…”

An inter-disciplinary approach to the energy transition in South Africa

“…And Heffron [ 33 ] provides “an obligation not to diminish the opportunities of future generations to achieve well-being at least equal to those who come before them”. From these publications, the first conclusion is that there is no single definition of energy justice [ 7 , 13 , 39 ]. Different researchers favour different perspectives [ 40 , 41 ].…”

It’s only a matter of time: Flexibility, activities and time of use tariffs in the United Kingdom

“…The disparities associated with affording flexibility and ToU tariffs can be framed as part of the literature on energy justice. Research in this context has often relied on ethical principles [6], which need to be reframed when discussing justice and flexibility of both systems [7] and demand [8]. The literature on energy justice has been expanding in recent years [9][10] and includes distributional issues [11] mainly applied to resources [12].…”