Deliberating Energy System Transitions in the UK

2013

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2013

Web: www.understanding-risk.org www.ukerc.ac.uk/support/tiki-index. php?page=Transforming+the+UK+ Energy+System UKERC/WP/ES/2013/004 www.ukerc.ac.uk The Meeting Place – hosting events for the whole of the UK research community – www.ukerc.ac.uk/support/TheMeetingPlace National Energy Research Network – a weekly newsletter containing news, jobs, events, opportunities and developments across the energy field – www.ukerc.ac.uk/support/NERN Research Atlas – the definitive information resource for current and past UK energy research and development activity –

2014

The Meeting Place-hosting events for the whole of the UK energy research community-www.ukerc.ac.uk/support/TheMeetingPlace National Energy Research Network-a weekly newsletter containing news, jobs, events, opportunities and developments across the energy field-www.ukerc.ac.uk/support/NERN Research Atlas-the definitive information resource for current and past UK energy research and development activity-http://ukerc.rl.ac.uk UKERC Publications Catalogue-all UKERC publications and articles available online, via www.ukerc.ac.uk Follow us on Twitter @UKERCHQ UKERC is funded by The Research Councils UK Energy Programme. The Research Councils UK Energy Programme aims to position the UK to meet its energy and environmental targets and policy goals through world-class research and training. 1 UKERC Research Report UK Energy in a Global Context One of the key objectives of the UK Energy Research Centre's research during the past few years has been to explore in more detail the global context for energy that UK energy policies will need to take into account, if they are to be successful. UKERC's global energy research has been brought together in a major new book: Global Energy: Issues, Potentials and Policy Implications which will be published by Oxford University Press in 2014. The book lays out clearly the global context within which the supply and use of energy in the UK seems likely to be situated over the next three or four decades. This report complements the book, and discusses the implications of global energy trends for the UK. It elaborates the options and choices for the UK in the light of UK energy issues and trends, and current energy infrastructures, markets and regulation. It also discusses the policies that are intended to determine the direction in which they develop.

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy

The United Kingdom has placed itself on a transition towards a low-carbon economy and society, through the imposition of a legally-binding goal aimed at reducing its 'greenhouse gas' emissions by 80% by 2050 against a 1990 baseline. A set of three low-carbon, socio-technical transition pathways were developed and analysed via an innovative collaboration between engineers, social scientists and policy analysts. The pathways focus on the power sector, including the potential for increasing use of low-carbon electricity for heating and transport, within the context of critical European Union developments and policies. Their development started from narrative storylines regarding different governance framings, drawing on interviews and workshops with stakeholders and analysis of historical analogies. The quantified UK pathways were named Market Rules, Central Coordination and Thousand Flowers; each reflecting a dominant logic of governance arrangements. The aim of the present contribution was to use these pathways to explore what is needed to realise a transition that successfully addresses the so-called energy policy 'trilemma,' i.e. the simultaneous delivery of low carbon, secure and affordable energy services. Analytical tools were developed and applied to assess the technical feasibility, social acceptability, and environmental and economic impacts of the pathways. Technological and behavioural developments were examined, alongside appropriate governance structures and regulations for these low-carbon transition pathways, as well as the roles of key energy system 'actors' (both large and small). An assessment of the part that could possibly be played by future demand side response was also undertaken in order to understand the factors that drive energy demand and energy-using behaviour, and reflecting growing interest in demand side response for balancing a system with high proportions of renewable generation. A set of interacting and complementary engineering and technoeconomic models or tools were then employed to analyse electricity network infrastructure investment and operational decisions to assist market design and option evaluation. This provided a basis for integrating the analysis within a whole systems framework of electricity system development, together with the evaluation of future economic benefits, costs and uncertainties. Finally, the energy and environmental performance of the different energy mixes were appraised on a 'life-cycle' basis to determine the greenhouse gas emissions and other ecological or health burdens associated with each of the three transition pathways. Here, the challenges, insights and opportunities that have been identified over the transition towards a low-carbon future in the United Kingdom are described with the purpose of providing a valuable evidence base for developers, policy makers and other stakeholders.

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Technological Forecasting and …, 2010

This paper describes the approach to developing transition pathways for a low carbon electricity system in the UK, being pursued in a major new interdisciplinary research project. The project aims (a) to learn from past transitions to help explore future transitions and what might enable or avoid them; (b) to design and evaluate transition pathways towards alternative sociotechnical energy systems and infrastructures for a low carbon future; and (c) to understand and, where appropriate, model the changing roles, influences and opportunities of large and small 'actors' in the dynamics of transitions. The paper describes the approach, which builds on the work of Dutch researchers on transitions and transition management using a multilevel framework of niches, sociotechnical regime and landscape, as well as on other parts of the innovation systems literature. It also describes its application to several outline transition pathways to a low carbon energy system in the UK. The pathways embrace both the evolution of the physical and institutional infrastructure changes and the roles of both large actors, e.g. multinational energy supply and distribution companies, national governments, major investors, and small actors, e.g. households, innovators and entrepreneurs.

2019

Social Science Research Network, 2008

System transitions are complex societal co-evolutionary processes that are typically led by gradual adapta tion rather than visionary m anagement or coordination. Still, visionary coordination of policies, regul ation, corporate strateg ies and social learning may overcome some barriers and foster new innovati on efforts providing sufficient impetus towards system transition. This paper addresses 'system transition' as a valuable perspective and develops a framework for analysing Nordic energy system research and governance. T he framework integrates different transitions phases, levels and dim ensions and combines them with the governance functions to provide overarching fram es for understanding system transitions. The framework for transition research and governan ce is applied in the analysis of the energy governance cases and discussed in vi ew of energy system transitions. This paper is based on an extens ive literature review and empirica lly based-theory building.

The UK Energy Research Centre carries out world-class research into sustainable future energy systems.

International Journal of Environmental Technology and …, 2008