Justice Implications of Clean Energy Policies and Programs in the United States: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration

Zhou, Shan; Noonan, Douglas S.

doi:10.3390/su11030807

Cited by 46 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 60 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The authors used a practice-based lens to understand occupants' disposition towards using green infrastructure to combat heat stress. In the US, Zhou and Noonan (2019) [49] used green building and smart meter roll-out programs across racially diverse neighbourhoods to investigate energy injustices. In doing so, the authors derived new energy justice exploration and policy perspectives [49].…”

Section: Built Environment and Energy Justice: Intersection Of Sustaimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the US, Zhou and Noonan (2019) [49] used green building and smart meter roll-out programs across racially diverse neighbourhoods to investigate energy injustices. In doing so, the authors derived new energy justice exploration and policy perspectives [49]. From a city-planning standpoint, the concept of economic and social justice, along with energy sustainability, was used by Chatterton (2013) [50] to develop an agenda for post-carbon affordable communities in the UK.…”

Section: Built Environment and Energy Justice: Intersection Of Sustaimentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Energy Justice in Slum Rehabilitation Housing: An Empirical Exploration of Built Environment Effects on Socio-Cultural Energy Demand

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The interaction of energy and buildings institutes a complex socio-technical system that influences the eudemonic well-being of the occupants. Understanding these drivers become even more necessary in impoverished areas where occupants struggle to avail essential energy services. The literature indicates that energy injustice can be addressed through provisioning of comfort, cleanliness, and convenience (3Cs) as critical cultural energy services in low-income areas. This study investigates the socio-architectural influence for slum rehabilitation housing (SRH) on cultural energy services that can promote distributive justice. The methodology adopts an empirical route using data from 200 household surveys from SRH in Mumbai, India, and João Pessoa, Brazil. A model between the 3Cs and socio-architectural elements was established using Firth's binary logistic regression. The survey results showed that the SRH in Brazil had twice the appliance ownership as compared to the Mumbai SRH. There were distinct energy service preferences in the study areas, despite common poverty burdens. The empirical results showed that the lack of socio-architectural design elements like open spaces, privacy, and walkability in the study areas demanded specific comfort and convenience appliances as a counter-response. A critical policy implication drawn was on the need for socio-architectural inclusive energy planning for distributive justice in poverty. Mitigating rising energy demand through appropriate built environment design of slum rehabilitation housing can contribute to fulfilling the UN's SDG 7 (clean and affordable energy) and 11 (sustainable cities and communities) goals.Sustainability 2020, 12, 3027 2 of 27 that determine the energy culture of a place [3]. Understanding energy culture can aid in designing "just" policies in a bottom-up targeted manner for equitable distribution of energy resources, especially for poverty alleviation [4,5].Energy cultures are derived from everyday energy practices, norms, and the material reality of the built environment that drives the need for specific energy services [6]. An energy culture translates everyday energy consumption into household welfare, which promotes energy justice. It is the responsibility of an energy-just system to increase welfare by improving individuals' capabilities for maximising utility [7]. Distributive energy justice entitles people to a basic set of minimum energy services that enhance their eudemonic well-being [8]. However, the current literature lacks evidence on the thresholds of a minimum of energy services as energy consumption at a household level is principally viewed as a physical quantity that is measured in a standardised unit (kilowatt-hour (kWh)) [9].Besides, at the individual level, energy is consumed in the form of "cultural energy services", which is driven by a complex socio-technical system of energy and built environment interaction [6,10,11]. This complex system is collectively referred to as human-scale energy services (HUSES) [12]. Anthropolo...

show abstract

Section: Built Environment and Energy Justice: Intersection Of Sustaimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Built Environment and Energy Justice: Intersection Of Sustaimentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Justice in Slum Rehabilitation Housing: An Empirical Exploration of Built Environment Effects on Socio-Cultural Energy Demand

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This argument serves as a critical foundation for this study, as we derive policy focus points through public deliberations of living in slum rehabilitation housing and the demand for human-scale energy services. In a recent exploratory study by Zhou & Noonan (2019) on distributive justice implications of clean energy policies in the United States have observed racial and socioeconomic disparities in three government-driven clean energy programs. The authors reported that the likelihood of smart meter rollout is governed by the racial bias of utility companies, and inequalities in funding clean energy programs (Zhou & Noonan, 2019).…”

Section: Policy Modelling Approaches For Distributive Energy Justicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a recent exploratory study by Zhou & Noonan (2019) on distributive justice implications of clean energy policies in the United States have observed racial and socioeconomic disparities in three government-driven clean energy programs. The authors reported that the likelihood of smart meter rollout is governed by the racial bias of utility companies, and inequalities in funding clean energy programs (Zhou & Noonan, 2019). They also found that improving the government's procurement policy can improve distributive equity for energy-efficient buildings (Zhou & Noonan, 2019).…”

Section: Policy Modelling Approaches For Distributive Energy Justicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The authors reported that the likelihood of smart meter rollout is governed by the racial bias of utility companies, and inequalities in funding clean energy programs (Zhou & Noonan, 2019). They also found that improving the government's procurement policy can improve distributive equity for energy-efficient buildings (Zhou & Noonan, 2019). Thus, revealing race and socioeconomic composition as a crucial element of distributive energy justice policy planning.…”

Section: Policy Modelling Approaches For Distributive Energy Justicementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Energy justice, built environment and poverty: A deep-narrative analysis of energy cultures in Brazil, India and Nigeria for policy modelling

Debnath¹,

Bardhan²,

Darby³

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Distributive energy justice as a policy instrument is crucial to meet UN-SDG 7 targets at the poorest section of rapidly urbanising Global South. This study mobilised this policy instrument to derive poverty alleviation focal points across slum rehabilitation housing in Brazil, India and Nigeria. It emphasises on the social dimensions of energy services which currently remains a literature gap. The core methodological innovation lies in the nested deep narrative analysis approach using topic modelling and grounded theory, developed in Debnath et. al. (2020). This paper presents the application of this methodology through the analysis of energy culture and built environment in poverty. Narratives of poverty and energy services were collected through focus group discussions that served as the primary data object. Topic modelling was performed to remove directionality biases in the narratives using a Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA)-based algorithm, which was then strengthen using grounded theory. Cross-validation of the topic models was performed using science-mapping of state-of-the-art literature in ‘energy justice’ and ‘poverty’ with an LDA-tuning algorithm. Results converged around seven key topics that probabilistically highlighted the grounded reality of complex interactions between poverty, built environment and human-scale energy services. The derived policy-focal points illustrated that built environment design, land use planning and governance are crucial to the success of SDG-7 in poverty. It showed how utilities and distribution companies can strengthen their energy governance to support social policies and improve the quality and reliability of electric power. The high diffusion of ICTs in the study area can act as a platform of change to bring distributive justice.

show abstract

An equity analysis of clean vehicle rebate programs in California

Cushing

Morello‐Frosch

2020

Climatic Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rebates incentivize clean vehicle adoption but may raise equity concerns because upfront capital is required for vehicle acquisition, limiting access for low-income households. Since poorer communities typically experience worse air quality than their wealthier counterparts, rebates also may not incentivize clean vehicle acquisitions in more polluted areas where air quality benefits would be greater. We analyzed whether equity-promoting policy design elements changed the associations between rebate allocation rates and census tract characteristics including community disadvantage, household income, education, race and ethnicity, and ambient air pollution in two California rebate programs. We found that the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project issued more rebates per household to advantaged, higher-income, better-educated communities with more White residents and intermediate levels of ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ). An income cap and income-tiered rebate amount introduced part way through the program improved distributional equity, but fewer rebates were still issued to lower income, less-educated census tracts with higher percentages of Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black residents. Furthermore, these policy design elements reduced the overall number of rebates that were distributed. In the Enhanced Fleet Modernization Program, which incorporates additional equity-related design elements, rebate allocation rates were positively associated with community disadvantage, lower income and education, and a higher proportion of Hispanics, and were the highest in areas with slightly higher NO 2 levels. These findings indicate that design elements such as an income cap, income-tiered rebate amounts, expanded vehicle eligibility, and increased benefit eligibility in disadvantaged communities, can facilitate distribution of rebates to more socioeconomically diverse populations with higher air pollution burdens.

show abstract

Justice Implications of Clean Energy Policies and Programs in the United States: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration

Cited by 46 publications

References 60 publications

Energy Justice in Slum Rehabilitation Housing: An Empirical Exploration of Built Environment Effects on Socio-Cultural Energy Demand

Energy Justice in Slum Rehabilitation Housing: An Empirical Exploration of Built Environment Effects on Socio-Cultural Energy Demand

Energy justice, built environment and poverty: A deep-narrative analysis of energy cultures in Brazil, India and Nigeria for policy modelling

An equity analysis of clean vehicle rebate programs in California

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About