Abstract
Transitioning into a sustainable energy system is becoming ever more pressing as the reality of an anthropogenic ecological crisis becomes difficult to ignore. Due to the complexity of the matter, proposed solutions often address the symptoms of the current socioeconomic configuration rather than its core. To conceptualise possible future energy systems, this Perspective focuses on the disconnect between science and technology and engineering studies. On the one hand, this disconnect leads to social science research that passively critiques rather than contributes to tackling societal issues in practice. On the other, it produces technical work limited by the incumbent conceptualisations of economic activity and organisational configurations around production without capturing the broader social and political dynamics. We thus propose a schema for bridging this divide that uses the “commons” as an umbrella concept. We apply this framework on the hardware aspect of a conceptual energy system, which builds on networked microgrids powered by open-source, lower cost, adaptable, socially responsible and sustainable technology. This Perspective is a call to engineers and social scientists alike to form genuine transdisciplinary collaborations for developing radical alternatives to the energy conundrum.
Highlights
The issue of transitioning into a sustainable energy production sys tem is becoming ever more pressing as the reality of an anthropogenic ecological crisis grows increasingly difficult to ignore
While the liberalisation of the energy market is accompanied by a narrative of empowered users/producers engaging along large utility providers or small-scale rooftop installations, the system of production relies on economic and political relations moti vated by profit maximisation and propelled by fossil fuels [4]
The decline in prices on solar power over the last decades would likely have been impossible without a mass relocation of production facilities from North America and Europe (e.g., Germany) to Asia (e.g., China), where wages are lower and environmental regulations, notably on greenhouse gas emissions, are comparatively deficient [4]. Both the produc tion and usage of renewable energy technology are intertwined in the current socioeconomic configuration
Summary
The issue of transitioning into a sustainable energy production sys tem is becoming ever more pressing as the reality of an anthropogenic ecological crisis grows increasingly difficult to ignore. Most dire, it prolongs the unsustainability of viewing en ergy as a commodity to be produced and sold rather than a fundamental factor of production without which economies would grind to a halt [5,6,7] This basic assumption of mainstream economics, inadvertently, obfuscates all kinds of consequences associated with energy consump tion and energy technologies, such as environmental degradation and the social/health impact on local communities. The decline in prices on solar power over the last decades would likely have been impossible without a mass relocation of production facilities from North America and Europe (e.g., Germany) to Asia (e.g., China), where wages are lower and environmental regulations, notably on greenhouse gas emissions, are comparatively deficient [4] Both the produc tion and usage of renewable energy technology are intertwined in the current socioeconomic configuration.
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