Value Change in Energy Systems

Abstract

The ongoing energy transition toward more sustainable energy systems implies a change in the values for which such systems are designed. The energy transition however is not just about sustainability but also about values like energy security and affordability, and we witness the emergence of new values like energy justice and energy democracy. How can we understand such value changes and how can or should they affect the design of future energy systems? This introduction to the special section on value change in energy systems introduces the main themes and questions. It discusses different understandings of values and value change, explains why the topic is important and how it can be methodologically studied.

Social tipping dynamics in the energy system

“…The rise of community energy within western Europe is an example of embedding sustainable behaviour within the existing motivation mechanisms of individuals. Where within the former fossil-fuel-based centralised energy systems were aimed at pursuing energy security (i.e., achieving affordable, available, acceptable and accessible energy for all members of society Cherp & Jewell ( 2014)), the technological innovation of affordable small-scale technologies could suddenly fulfil the existing desires and demands for democracy, autarky, justice and social cohesion (Brown et al 2020, van de Poel & Taebi 2022. Once new behaviour is adopted, the engagement in such energy community practices can lead to a positive feedback loop between sustainable behaviour (Sloot et al 2018) and the prioritisation of ecosystem system conservation-related values (Radke et al 2022)..…”

Understanding Value Change in the Energy Transition: Exploring the Perspective of Original Institutional Economics

“…We argue that addressing the issue of value change in the energy transition is not so much about providing a singular explanation or predictions drawing upon a unified theory, but in combining a selection of the relevant approaches in a consistent manner. OIE enables us to create an appropriate conceptual framework, that fits the issues at stake in understanding value change and the energy transition (see also Hodgson, 1998 , 2004 ; Mayhew, 2018 ; Groenewegen et al, 1995 ; Groenewegen, 2021 ; van de Poel & Taebi, 2022 ). As will be outlined below, this framework will help to conceptually and empirically derive explanations for the occurrence of value change, as an interaction between different relevant ecological, technical, organizational, institutional and economic facets of the energy transition, and the consequences thereof.…”

“…All these issues are the result of, or invoke, normative evaluations revolving around the moral question of how changes in sociotechnical systems relate to particular understandings of values, which, as a consequence, may also be subject to change (van de Poel, 2018 ; van de Poel & Taebi, 2022 ). We observe that a framework that allows for a coherent analysis of value change and the way in which humans deal with moral issues, as regards their relations with nature, technology, and institutions, in the context of the economic process, and within a particular society and culture may be helpful.…”