Dancing with complexity: Making sense of decarbonisation, decentralisation, digitalisation and democratisation

Abstract

Energy systems around the world are changing, not only in terms of the technologies involved, but also with respect to economic, social, geographic and political dimensions. This perspective examines how four key trends: decarbonisation, decentralisation, digitalisation and democratisation – collectively packaged as the ‘four Ds’ of energy system transformation – are being discussed to describe energy system change. Rather than existing as concrete facts, I argue that such trends are important analytical frames, and highlight the role of their social construction in articulating and realising diverse energy futures. 266 unique actors from diverse communities and multiple geographies were found to have used the four Ds and other ‘D frames’. Content analysis illustrates how articulations of energy trends have been used in actors’ sense-making around the challenges, threats and opportunities presented by energy system change. I argue that many of these articulations can be understood in the context of increasing system complexity, and specifically, the need to rationalise technical, organisational and institutional logics of control. Given the importance of the sociology of trends in shaping energy futures, the paper concludes by raising some provocations for research and policy.