The Policy, Politics, and Governance of Sustainable Energy Transitions

Dear Colleagues,

More than two decades since the global initiatives concerning modern energy access to all and renewable energy’s gained momentum (Newell and Bulkeley, 2017), the concept of sustainable energy transitions still attracts as much attention as ever. It now has a prominent, if diverse, representation in the scholarly literature, as well as in the policies and practices seeking to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and foster renewable energy and energy efficiency as drivers for a more sustainable development.

A sustainable energy transition is usually defined as the transition of an energy system from a polluting and unsustainable energy source (e.g., fossil fuels) to clean and sustainable renewable energy (Fouquet and Pearson, 2012; Isoaho et al., 2016), or, more broadly, as the shift from one energy technology to another (Solomon and Krishna 2011). These definitions have been predominantly used to study sustainable energy transitions in developing and developed countries, for example, in Japan (Mah et al., 2013), China (Sun et al., 2016), Germany (Fuchs and Hinderer, 2014), and the UK (Webb et al., 2016).

In the context of developing countries, research regarding sustainable energy transitions has also focused on the energy ladder (Harrington et al., 2020; Hiemstra-Van der Horst and Hovorka, 2008). The assumption is that as income rises, households shift from traditional biomass fuels (e.g., faeces, firewood, and crop residues) to modern, clean, and efficient energy services (e.g., LPG, natural gas, and electricity) (Elias and Victor, 2005). This understanding underpins the global efforts of sustainable energy access as a means to achieve a more equitable economic development (Bhattacharyya, 2012). This agenda has been promoted, for example, by the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Energy Agency.

Scholars have also addressed issues concerning sustainable energy transitions through new concepts, frameworks, and approaches, including, but not limited to, energy accessibility, energy innovations, and energy transformations, as well as involving a range of economic, infrastructural, and health concerns (Kuzemko et al., 2020).

Overall, the scholarship becomes multidimensional in nature because of the regional differences in climate, development, society, culture, technology innovation, resource availability, etc. (Markard et al., 2012; Geels, 2014; Schmitz, 2016; Seyfang and Haxeltine, 2012; Sovacool and Griffiths, 2020; Joshi and Yenneti, 2020). However, there is a limited number of studies attempting to holistically capture the varieties of factors and contexts behind the articulation of energy-related sustainable transitions (Sareen and Haarstad, 2018). There is, therefore, a need for a global perspective on the policy, politics, and governance of sustainable energy transitions (Lockwood et al., 2016).

For this Special Issue, we invite submissions helping to enhance the understanding and conceptualisation of sustainable energy transitions. We are interested in submissions exploring ‘new geographies of theory’ and ‘new conceptual vectors’. Contributions may address the complexity of sustainable energy transitions in various geographical contexts and at multiple dimensions (economic, social, political, developmental, and environmental). They may be generic in nature or specific to a particular geographical region, with regard to regional diversity in climate, development, economic structure, income levels, housing stock, resource availability, socioeconomic characteristics, etc. Original work adopting a relational perspective and showcasing how to address theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues regarding the concept of sustainable energy transitions is particularly welcome.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• New concepts and definitions of sustainable energy transitions (across the Global South and the Global North, and bridging the gap between them).
• Innovative techniques and methodologies to measure and differentiate the elements of sustainable energy transitions.
• History, evolution, and discourses of sustainable energy transitions in different geographical dimensions.
• Smart and ground-breaking technologies, strategies, and real-time applications to address sustainable energy transitions in different spatial and social contexts (for both the developing and developed world).
• Role of institutions, actors, action agents, policy options and effects, laws and regulations, governance and planning, and other policy, industry, and action initiatives to address sustainable energy transitions.
• Best practice initiatives (individual, behavioural, and community-led) and successful examples.
• Relationship of the concept of sustainable energy transitions to other related concepts from the built environment, urban planning, energy geography, environmental studies, etc.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

References

Bhattacharyya, S.C., 2012. Energy access programmes and sustainable development: A critical review and analysis. Energy for sustainable development, 16(3), pp.260-271.

Fouquet, R. and Pearson, P. J. 2012. Past and prospective energy transitions: Insights from history. Elsevier

Harrington, E., Athavankar, A. and Hsu, D., 2020. Variation in rural household energy transitions for basic lighting in India. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 119, p.109568.

Hiemstra-Van der Horst, G. and Hovorka, A.J., 2008. Reassessing the “energy ladder”: Household energy use in Maun, Botswana. Energy Policy, 36(9), pp.3333-3344.

Isoaho, K., Goritz, A. and Schulz, N. 2016. Governing clean energy transitions in China and India: A comparative political economy analysis. WIDER Working Paper.

Joshi, G. and Yenneti, K., 2020. Community solar energy initiatives in India: A pathway for addressing energy poverty and sustainability?. Energy and Buildings, 210, p.109736.

Kuzemko, C., Bradshaw, M., Bridge, G., Goldthau, A., Jewell, J., Overland, I., Scholten, D., Van de Graaf, T. and Westphal, K., 2020. Covid-19 and the politics of sustainable energy transitions. Energy Research & Social Science, 68, p.101685.

Lockwood, M., Kuzemko, C., Mitchell, C. and Hoggett, R., 2017. Historical institutionalism and the politics of sustainable energy transitions: A research agenda. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 35(2), pp.312-333.

Mah, D.N.Y., Wu, Y.Y., Ip, J.C.M. and Hills, P.R., 2013. The role of the state in sustainable energy transitions: A case study of large smart grid demonstration projects in Japan. Energy Policy, 63, pp.726-737.

Newell, P. and Bulkeley, H., 2017. Landscape for change? International climate policy and energy transitions: evidence from sub-Saharan Africa. Climate Policy, 17(5), pp.650-663.

Sareen, S. and Haarstad, H., 2018. Bridging socio-technical and justice aspects of sustainable energy transitions. Applied Energy, 228, pp.624-632.

Seyfang, G. and Haxeltine, A., 2012. Growing grassroots innovations: exploring the role of community-based initiatives in governing sustainable energy transitions. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 30(3), pp.381-400.

Solomon, B.D. and Krishna, K., 2011. The coming sustainable energy transition: History, strategies, and outlook. Energy Policy, 39(11), pp.7422-7431.

Sovacool, B.K. and Griffiths, S., 2020. Culture and low-carbon energy transitions. Nature Sustainability, 3(9), pp.685-693.

Sun, X., Zhang, B., Tang, X., McLellan, B.C. and Höök, M., 2016. Sustainable energy transitions in China: Renewable options and impacts on the electricity system. Energies, 9(12), p.980.

Webb, J., Hawkey, D. and Tingey, M., 2016. Governing cities for sustainable energy: The UK case. Cities, 54, pp.28-35.

Dr. Komali Yenneti
Prof. Dr. Massimo Palme
Dr. Gloria Pignatta
Guest Editors

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• sustainable urban development
• energy access
• renewable energy technologies
• energy policy