Energy transitions and social revolutions

Fischer‐Kowalski, Marina; Rovenskaya, Elena; Krausmann, Fridolin; Pallua, Irene; Neill, John R. Mc

doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2018.08.010

Cited by 44 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The lock-in into the fossil energy system is not only a question of financial investments and their amortization but also of societal material stocks ( Krausmann et al, 2017 ). In this sense, the energy transition from a biomass-based to a fossil-fuel system occurs gradually and requires vast material resource investments; this is a process that began much earlier in some of the European countries (Great Britain, the Netherlands) than in other parts of the world ( Fischer-Kowalski et al, 2018 ) where it is currently still ongoing ( Schaffartzik and Fischer-Kowalski, 2018 ). Socio-ecological transitions become evident as changes in society's average metabolic profile, coinciding with social, economic, and ecological shifts as new production, consumption, and trade networks emerge ( Fischer-Kowalski and Haberl, 2007 ).…”

Section: Conceptual Framework Methods and Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Talk renewables, walk coal: The paradox of India's energy transition

Roy

Schaffartzik

2021

Ecological Economics

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Coal is on the rise in India: despite the devasting impacts of the climate crisis, the awareness for land and forest rights, and political talk of a coal phase-out. In this article, we demonstrate that despite the renewables-led rhetoric, India is in the midst of a transition to (not away from) greater use of coal in its fossil energy system and in the electricity system in particular. We investigate this paradox by combining socio-metabolic and political-ecological analysis of the Indian coal complex. Our framework integrates material and energy flow data as characterizing the Indian fossil energy transition, indicators on the development and structure of the coal industry, and studies of ecological distribution conflicts around coal. The dominant claim to expansive use of coal and the competing counterclaims are indicative of underlying power relations which can also be witnessed in other countries. In India, they extend into the conflicted development of renewable energy including hydropower, in which the land dispossession, exclusion, and injustices associated with the expansion of the coal complex are reproduced. We conclude that the current energy transition – in which coal continues to play a dominant role – is neither sustainable nor just.

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Section: Conceptual Framework Methods and Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Talk renewables, walk coal: The paradox of India's energy transition

Roy

Schaffartzik

2021

Ecological Economics

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“…According to our analysis of the take off phase of fossil fuel use of 68 countries across the world and across the past five centuries, we could statistically show a high probability that revolutions happened during the very early phase of fossil fuel adoption (namely between 0,5 and 7,7 GJ fossil fuels per capita) (Fischer-Kowalski et al 2019). European countries, for comparison, use currently around 200 GJ/ cap.…”

Section: The Transition From the Agrarian To The Industrial Regimementioning

confidence: 89%

Reflections on the Ecology of Landscapes

2020

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“…The take-off period for the transition to fossil fuels (and later also other modern energy sources, including nuclear) tends to occur at levels of domestic modern energy use between 0.47-7.71 Gigajoules per capita (GJ/cap). This range was identified in the analysis of a large country sample (representing approximately two-thirds of the global population) in a long time series (beginning as early as the 15th and as late as the 18th century) [32]. During the following phase of acceleration of modern energy use and maturation of the energy transition, domestic energy consumption increased up to 50 GJ/cap.…”

Section: Energy Transition Phasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The take-off phase of historical fossil energy transitions alone lasted 58 years on average, and was not systematically shorter for the countries that began their transition later. Only the very early development of fossil infrastructures in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands took longer and provided all other countries with a bit of a piggy-back ride on their innovations [32]. The transition to a fossil energy system is pursued not as a goal in itself, but was and is the by-product of political and economic development enabled by technological innovation and motivated by opportunities to make a profit [33].…”

Section: Renewable Energy In the Pockets Of The Fossil Energy Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Latecomers to the Fossil Energy Transition, Frontrunners for Change? The Relevance of the Energy ‘Underdogs’ for Sustainability Transformations

Schaffartzik

Fischer‐Kowalski

2018

Sustainability

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The global energy system subsumes both extreme wealth (and waste) and extreme poverty. A minority of the global population is consuming the majority of the fossil fuel-based energy and causing global warming. While the mature industrialized economies maintain their high levels of energy consumption, the emerging economies are rapidly expanding their fossil energy systems, emulating traditional patterns of industrialization. We take a global, socio-metabolic perspective on the energy transition phases—take-off, maturation, and completion—of 142 countries between 1971 and 2015. Even within our global fossil energy system, the transition to fossil energy is still ongoing; many countries are in the process of replacing renewable energy with fossil energy. However, due to globally limited supplies and sinks, continuing the fossil energy transition is not an indefinite option. Rather than a “Big Push” for renewable energy within pockets of the fossil energy system, a sustainability transformation is required that would change far more than patterns of energy supply and use. Where this far-reaching change requires pushing back against the fossil energy system, the energy underdogs—the latecomers to the fossil energy transition—just might come out on top.

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Energy transitions and social revolutions

Cited by 44 publications

References 14 publications

Talk renewables, walk coal: The paradox of India's energy transition

Talk renewables, walk coal: The paradox of India's energy transition

Reflections on the Ecology of Landscapes

Latecomers to the Fossil Energy Transition, Frontrunners for Change? The Relevance of the Energy ‘Underdogs’ for Sustainability Transformations

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