Papers by Johanna Höffken
Dilemmas of Energy Transitions in the Global South
This book has explored energy transitions unfolding in the global South against the backdrop of a... more This book has explored energy transitions unfolding in the global South against the backdrop of an urgency vs justice dilemma. In the age of the Anthropocene the urgent need for de-carbonising our energy systems can be at odds with taking seriously questions of social and environmental justice. With public debates pushing the importance of urgency, 1 often at the expense of justice questions, we have argued that a politics of just energy transitions is needed to navigate the dilemma. The analyses presented in this book show different facets such a focus can uncover, from studying solar and wind farms in post-war Sri Lanka to legal frameworks that aim to protect the rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia; from following energy provision infrastructures in Lebanon to lower-caste women entrepreneurs installing clean cookstoves in South India; or from comparatively tracing Gambian and Irish mobility practices, governing solar energy technology rollouts in Portugal or questioning sustainability in Indian smart grids. Following such narratives helps us detect angles and approaches that characterise promising pathways for engaging with a politics of energy transitions in the Anthropocene. They are part of a broader research landscape that we look at through three lenses in this concluding chapter: a methodological, a theoreticalconceptual and an empirical lens. We propose that these lenses could sharpen and re-focus our attention when navigating the landscapes of energy transitions. The chapter ends by suggesting how urgency, justice and related connotations offer both productive tensions and reinforcing potential. This can enrich, open up and bring into focus our understanding and efforts to shape energy transitions.
Energy research and social science, 2020
Journal of Cleaner Production
Abstract When studying smart grids experiments, much scholarly attention is directed at the house... more Abstract When studying smart grids experiments, much scholarly attention is directed at the household level. This article argues for the importance to look “further upstream” by studying the development and design phase of such interventions. The article focusses on the development of two smart grid projects in the Netherlands. Using a set of qualitative research approaches the article investigates and maps the diversity of actors that are typically involved in smart grid projects. Three themes are identified that play a central role in the design of smart energy interventions. Given the type of actors prominent in the design, this article finds that current smart energy interventions are designed based on decisions favouring technological default, certain sticky user-assumptions, and automated control. The discussion covers some implications of the prominence of these particular actors in smart grid projects, and the supply-side biased design that it engenders.
Local Environment
Smart and eco-cities have become important notions for thinking about urban futures. This article... more Smart and eco-cities have become important notions for thinking about urban futures. This article contributes to these ongoing debates about smart and eco-urbanism by focussing on recent urbanisation initiatives in Asia. Our study of India's Smart Cities Mission launched under the administration of Narendra Modi and China's All-In-One eco-cities project initiated by Xi Jinpin unfolds in two corresponding narratives. Roy and Ong's [2011. Worlding Cities: Asian Experiments and the Art of Being Global. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell] "worlding cities" serves as the theoretical backdrop of our analysis. Based on a careful review of a diverse set of academic literature, policy and other sources we identify five process-dimensions for analysing the respective urban approaches. We show how the specific features of China's and India's urban focus, organisation, implementation, governance and embedding manifest both nations' approaches to smart and eco-urbanism. We argue that India's Smart City Mission and China's All-in-One project are firmly anchored in broader agendas of change that are set out to transform the nation and extend into time. The Indian Smart City Mission is part of a broader ambition to transform the nation enabling her "smart incarnation" in modernity. Smart technologies are seen as the key drivers of change. In China the framework of ecological civilisation continues a 5000-year historical tradition of civilisation excellence. By explicitly linking eco-urbanism to the framework, eco-cities become a means to enact ecological civilisation on the (urban) ground.
Energy Research & Social Science
In this article we empirically study the notion of 'The Resource Man' put forward by Strengers (2... more In this article we empirically study the notion of 'The Resource Man' put forward by Strengers (2014): a motivated and knowledgeable micro-resource manager, who uses domestic smart grid innovations to manage energy demand in a sustainable, affordable and grid-friendly way. To explore this notion, we analyse a case study where energy cooperative members engaged with an ICT-based monitoring platform focussing on three domestic energy-managing activities -energy monitoring, planning and sharing. We find that although this case provided the best prerequisites for the Resource Man to emerge, none of these activities was sustained during the project. This outcome underlines that the Resource Man perspective held by many actors in the energy industry has a narrow understanding of energy consumption and how it can be changed or made more flexible. We suggest that it is easier to understand householders' engagement with energy through the concept of energy practice or "e-practices". E-practices go beyond managing energy with smart devices, and can include being actively involved in an energy collective, generating, trading, storing or discussing energy. We argue that in general, domestic smart grid technology can play a potential but limited role in effecting changes to complex and interlinked daily practices.
Energy Research & Social Science
The phrase ‘small is beautiful’ holds true for the micro-hydro plants discussed in this article. ... more The phrase ‘small is beautiful’ holds true for the micro-hydro plants discussed in this article. Micro-hydro plants can convert the energy of falling water into electricity. In India, access to electricity cannot be taken for granted, especially in rural areas, which do not yet have grid extension or where it is too costly or infeasible. In these cases, micro-hydro plants are a welcome solution. Here I discuss the efforts of two non-governmental organizations, a private company, and a government agency, to facilitate micro-hydro projects in India, thereby increasing the socio-economic empowerment of rural inhabitants without electricity access. Based on extensive ethnographic data and constructivist conceptualizations of scale and consequences I find that these projects can indeed be described as “beautiful” technology interventions. In line with the common discourse on “small is beautiful,” the projects emphasize community engagement, control, and locality. Yet, importantly, they are “beautiful” in diverse ways. The actors set different priorities when implementing their small-scale technology interventions. Highlighting these priorities is important because they can empower people to acquire different roles, ranging from engaged consumers to prosumers. Instead of solely concentrating on the (small) scale of a technology I plead to consider the significance of implementing these interventions.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016
DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of t... more DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the "Taverne" license above, please follow below link for the End User Agreement:
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2014
Associated with being green, clean and small-scale, small hydroelectric power (SHP) projects gene... more Associated with being green, clean and small-scale, small hydroelectric power (SHP) projects generally enjoy a positive image. In India SHP promises answers to issues such as meeting a growing electricity demand, facilitating lucrative investment opportunities, and climate change considerations. The features of being green, clean and small-scale have contributed to the assumption of SHP as an essentially uncontested technology. Empirical studies questioning this assumption are scarce. Research on SHP has so far remained rather hypothetical and policy-level-focused. This article investigates the social acceptability of small hydroelectric plants in India by empirically looking at how people engage with these plants. It thereby underlines the importance of studying technologies in their local context. Based on a detailed case study analysis of two SHP projects in Karnataka, India, the article shows how SHP projects are contested on the local level. The engagement of local people played a crucial role in the contestation of the plants and led to significant and unexpected outcomes and effects. The article highlights the importance of having a broader perspective in the development of SHP that goes beyond a mindset of technological fixes. This includes taking account of existing water infrastructure and a broader range of water users. The article shows that the implementation of SHP projects does not take place in a void. Rather, complex existing physical and social realities on the ground matter for the development and performance of SHP.
Advancing Energy Policy, 2018
DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of t... more DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the "Taverne" license above, please follow below link for the End User Agreement:
Smart Grids from a Global Perspective, 2016
DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of t... more DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the "Taverne" license above, please follow below link for the End User Agreement:
Sustainability
Civic energy communities (CECs) have emerged throughout Europe in recent years, developing a rang... more Civic energy communities (CECs) have emerged throughout Europe in recent years, developing a range of activities to promote, generate, and manage renewable energy within the community. Building on theories of Social Practice, we develop the notion of Collective Energy Practice to account for the activity of CECs. This expands the practice-based understanding of energy, which thus far has mostly focused on energy practices of the home. Additionally, we build on earlier practice-based thinking to come to our understanding of a ‘system of energy practices’. This view places the collective energy practices of CECs in a broader mesh of sites of practice, including policymaking, commercial activity, and grid management. Taking account of the enabling and/or restricting the influence of this broad system of energy practices is crucial in understanding the development of CECs’ practices. We accomplish this through the qualitative analysis of our long-term empirical research of five Dutch CE...
Dilemmas of Energy Transitions in the Global South
Energy Research & Social Science
Energy Research & Social Science
Advancing Energy Policy: Lessons on the Integration of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2018
Transitioning to less carbon-intensive energy systems involves making difficult choices and prior... more Transitioning to less carbon-intensive energy systems involves making difficult choices and priorities. This chapter imagines three individuals who are affected in different ways by EU energy policy. Their fictional stories illustrate that energy policies are embedded in social, historical and cultural practices and need to take a broader perspective than either technological fixes or a narrowly defined goal of low or zero carbon emissions to be fair and effective. We argue that this is often not reflected in the EU's energy policy frameworks, and use the Energy Roadmap 2050 to demonstrate our point. Contrary to the impression
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Papers by Johanna Höffken