Energy transition towards economic and environmental sustainability: feasible paths and policy implications

Collective ownership in renewable energy and opportunities for sustainable degrowth

“…With regard to the discussion on ownership of energy utilities and other sectors (Cumbers 2012;Hall et al 2013;Moss et al 2014), it is important to note that in our analysis, ownership will not be limited to the dichotomy between state and cooperative ownership. A thus defined legal form of property alone does not guarantee the pursuit of a social and ecological transition.…”

“…A reduced per capita consumption rate of energy would thus be a first step towards a degrowing social metabolism. Renewable energy is always a contribution to a less destructive mode of production, as, in comparison to fossil energy, it reduces the ecological impact of generating one unit of energy (D'Alessandro et al 2010;Schneider et al 2010). However, by providing the basis for a social metabolism that is bound to grow, all energy production (renewables are here no exception) is inseparable from the growth paradigm inscribed in the latter (Fischer-Kowalski and Haberl 2007).…”

“…Historians commonly emphasise the connection between predominant energy sources and different paths of social and economic development (Braudel 1992;Altvater 2011). D'Alessandro et al (2010 briefly summarised this interrelation: ''fossil energy sources have fuelled economic growth ever since the industrial revolution''.…”

Measuring regional resilience towards fossil fuel supply constraints. Adaptability and vulnerability in socio-ecological Transformations-the case of Austria

“…This is a difficult task because a possible peak oil would present a historically unknown challenge. However, different ways of approaching the issue have been proposed in recent years, and they can be grouped along the following lines: (1) econometric approach (Hirsch, 2008, Li, 2008, (2) profit rate analysis (Li, 2007, Exner et al, 2008a, b, Exner, 2013b, (3) economic modeling (Kerschner and Hubacek, 2009, Fleissner, 2010, D'Alessandro et al, 2010, (4) system dynamics (Korowicz, 2010), (5) geopolitical approach (ZfTdB, 2011), (6) historical approach (Friedrichs, 2010). Although these approaches all have their specific assumptions and limitations, and of course do not necessarily converge in their conclusions, we can however draw some general lessons from them.…”

The Neglect of Governance in Forest Sector Vulnerability Assessments: Structural-Functionalism and “Black Box” Problems in Climate Change Adaptation Planning

“…The models upon which they draw were developed for other reasons, such as ecosystem impact modeling and studies of community resilience (Walker and Cooper 2011), and they are not suited to policy analysis without significant modification, which as we have seen, is rarely done. Although currently in vogue in many geography and natural resource management programs, these models are not well suited to the development of feasible policy prescriptions or to the actual practices of policy-making, where the issues of political power, unequal resource distribution, and institutional legacies noted in the case studies are very central concerns which cannot simply be ignored or glossed over (D'Alessandro et al 2010, Skodvin et al 2010). …”