Renewable Energy as an Underutilised Resource in Cities: Germany’s ‘Energiewende’ and Lessons for Post-Brexit Cities in the United Kingdom

Walter De Vries,Uchendu Chigbu,Iqbal Hamiduddin,Mohammed Sait

doi:10.3390/resources8010007

Walter De Vries, Uchendu Chigbu + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/resources8010007

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Abstract

Renewable energy remains an underutilised resource within urban environments. This study examines the ongoing German Energiewende (energy transition) as an example of renewable energy being treated as a necessary resource for urban development. It departs from existing literature by operationalising the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), taking a policy systems approach to analyse (and explain) the cases of three German cities—Munich, Berlin, and Freiburg. This approach helps draw lessons for future UK energy scenarios by placing more abstract conceptions of Sustainable Energy Transitions (SETs) within the context of UK cities, post-Brexit. By discussing five main themes: the shift from government to governance; the need to break ‘carbon lock-in’; renewable energy innovation as an underutilised resource; developing governance strategies for renewable energy resources; the shift from policy to practice, the study yields a detailed reconceptualisation of approaches to renewable energy resource-use policy. The novelty of this study lies in its response to these challenges, taking a policy systems approach to energy governance. The article concludes with a proposed integrated framework. The framework, which is based on multi-scalar and multi-stakeholder integrated energy governance strategy, reconsiders the way in which renewable energy resources are seen in current governance terms in the UK. The framework presents a new approach to renewable energy resource-use policy that embraces innovation, responsible governance, and inclusive processes, (alongside thinking beyond simply technical solutions) to considering the socio-economic impacts of policy decisions in cities.

Highlights

Renewable energy is an underutilised resource in many cities that is under-exploited
The framework, which is based on multi-scalar and multi-stakeholder integrated energy governance strategy, reconsiders the way in which renewable energy resources are seen in current governance terms in the United Kingdom (UK)
UK cities have a number of existing structural advantages that potentially could allow for greater innovation and transformation, they have continued to lag behind their European competitors in terms of renewable energy innovation, productivity and sustainable resource-use

Summary

Introduction

Renewable energy is an underutilised resource in many cities that is under-exploited. UK cities have a number of existing structural advantages that potentially could allow for greater innovation and transformation, they have continued to lag behind their European competitors in terms of renewable energy innovation, productivity and sustainable resource-use. Since the Climate Change Act 2008, the UK’s renewable energy policies have increasingly been focused on how to adapt existing energy systems and resources to innovative approaches [4]. Devolution and other structural policy shifts have the potential to give rise to more sustainable energy governance, responding to changing needs in ways that are different from the rest of the EU [5]. The novelty of this study lies in its response to these challenges, taking a policy systems approach to renewable energy resource-use policy, focusing on the governance and management of these resources within cities

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