Energy Justice Research Articles

From policy to progress: do female parliamentarians influence energy justice?

ABSTRACT Women parliamentarians have been playing an increasingly important role in shaping climate policy and advocating for energy justice in recent years. As lawmakers, they have a unique opportunity to influence policy decisions and prioritize sustainable practices that can mitigate the effects of climate change. Additionally, women parliamentarians bring a unique perspective to the table, often championing issues that directly impact women, children, and marginalized communities who are disproportionately affected by climate change and energy injustices. As the composition of parliamentarians becomes more diversified with the increasing representation of women, it is crucial to investigate whether female parliamentarians influence energy justice. Based on the theory of ecofeminism, which suggests that women are relatively more concerned with environmental sustainability and environmental risks than men, this study tests the hypothesis that women parliamentarians are more likely to take action in favour of energy justice. Specifically, this paper aims to examine the causal effect of female parliamentarians in promoting energy justice in a panel of 62 countries. The study proposes three sub-indicators of energy justice namely distributive justice, procedural justice, and restorative justice. Using the two-stage instrumental variable approach, we isolate the effect of female parliamentarians and find that it is a driver of energy justice. The results of a mediation analysis highlight the role of democracy and human capital as transmission channels, explaining the indirect effect of female parliamentarians on energy justice. The study's conclusions therefore highlight the importance of supporting and empowering women parliamentarians in their efforts to combat climate change and energy injustice.

Navigating the legal uncertainty around the governance of an integrated energy system using the values of the energy transition and energy justice

AbstractIn order to realise the European Union's (EU) transition to clean and carbon‐neutral energy systems, various individual infrastructure systems and energy networks will have to coordinate and operate as an integrated energy system. Traditionally, these different infrastructure systems operate within their own sectors and are governed by separate legal regimes. The intersection of these different legal rules and interests creates regulatory uncertainty and risk for infrastructure operators and can dissuade operators from participating in system integration. This paper explores how infrastructure operators can overcome the legal uncertainty and regulatory risks of operating as an integrated system, whilst also ensuring that the policy objectives of the energy transition are realised. This paper argues that, by pursuing public values and energy justice principles, infrastructure operators will overcome the legal uncertainty surrounding system integration. By doing so, infrastructure operators will facilitate the realisation of an energy transition that is just, inclusive and in the public interest.

Broadening equitable access to solar: renters, non-adopters and the impact of consumption values on attitudes and installation intentions

ABSTRACT Addressing inequities in rooftop solar access is crucial to achieving decarbonisation and energy justice goals. This study contributes to the literature by applying an adapted consumption values model to the rooftop solar context and by examining renters’ perceptions of factors that would reduce barriers to solar uptake. An online survey (n = 331) of Australian households reveals that value-for-money perceptions are the only significant difference between adopters and non-adopters of solar. Structural equation modelling shows that, while idealistic values influence attitudes towards rooftop solar, pragmatic values drive installation intentions, which is aligned with prior research. Logistic regression shows that the higher the functional value (defined as the perceived utility of a product based on value for money, performance or quality perceptions) and the higher the conditional value (defined as the perceived utility of a product based on the circumstances faced by the decision maker), the higher the odds of installing solar. The findings are consistent with studies reporting significant cost barriers to solar adoption. Several recommendations for policy makers and practitioners are made to support equitable access to rooftop solar and help address the negative effects of past policies that favoured homeowners over renters.

Mapping Spatiotemporal Disparities in Residential Electricity Inequality Using Machine Learning.

The move toward electrification is critical for decarbonizing the energy sector but may exacerbate energy unaffordability without proper safeguards. Addressing this challenge requires capturing neighborhood-scale dynamics to uncover the blind spots in residential electricity inequality. Based on publicly available, multisourced remote sensing and census data, we develop a high-resolution, spatiotemporally explicit machine learning (ML) framework to predict tract-level monthly electricity consumption across the conterminous U.S. from 2013-2020. We then construct the electricity affordability gap (EAG) metric, defined as the gap between electricity bills and 3% of household income, to better identify energy-vulnerable communities over space and time. The results show that our framework largely improves the resolution of electricity consumption data while achieving an R2 of 0.82 compared to the Low-Income Energy Affordability Data (LEAD). We estimate an annual $16.18 billion economic burden on the ability to afford electricity bills, exceeding current federal appropriations in alleviating energy difficulties. We also observe pronounced seasonal and urban-rural disparities, with monthly EAG in summer and winter being 2-3 times greater than other seasons and rural residents facing burdens up to 1.7 times higher than their urban counterparts. These insights inform equitable electrification by addressing spatiotemporal mismatches and multiple jurisdictional challenges in energy justice efforts.

Understanding energy conflicts: From epistemic disputes to competing conceptions of justice

Analysing energy conflicts is crucial to realise a successful and just energy transition. In doing so, it is insufficient to understand energy conflicts as epistemic disagreements about risk analyses and safety, as people often voice moral concerns beyond epistemic debates. To analyse grievances of social movements and citizens in energy conflicts, scholars often adopt a tenet-based energy justice framework that distinguishes between distributive, procedural, recognition and restorative justice. However, categorising claims into tenets does not shed light on disagreements within the tenets. As such, the existing conceptual toolkit is insufficient to understand the core of energy justice conflicts. This article proposes to shift focus towards capturing different conceptions of justice. This approach is illustrated by a qualitative analysis of the controversy around underground gas storage Grijpskerk and Norg in the Netherlands. The results show that the conflict is constituted by competing conceptions of restorative justice. The institutionalisation of one conception delegitimises and hides certain justice concerns and reduces the conflict to an epistemic dispute, which leads to misrecognition and possibly to the escalation of the conflict.

Income-Graduated Fixed charges, Energy Justice, and the Clean Energy Transition

Income-Graduated Fixed charges, Energy Justice, and the Clean Energy Transition

Energy Justice as Epistemic Justice

ABSTRACT Energy justice is often conceived of as consisting of distributive, procedural, and recognitional justice. This article adds epistemic justice, which engages with the question of how the exchange of knowledge can be shaped fairly. Energy issues ramify across social worlds, connecting to multiple knowledge systems. The conventional elements of energy justice place specific demands on how different knowledge systems must be accommodated. Epistemic work must be done to bridge epistemological differences and pay due respect to different forms of knowledge. Energy justice should not neglect this epistemic work, and it cannot be assumed that it is sufficient to invite stakeholders to the discussion arena. I argue that fair ways of dealing with knowledge and fair opportunities for citizens to contribute knowledge to energy affairs are crucial to achieving energy justice of any general form. Also, this epistemic justice is not to be seen as yet another pillar of energy justice but a concern that runs through all pillars of energy justice.

Just Sustainability Transitions: Politics, Power, and Prefiguration in Transformative Change Toward Justice and Sustainability

Facing the world's ecological, economic, and social challenges requires us to connect the concepts of justice, sustainability, and transitions. Bridging and discussing heterogeneous fields, we argue that these concepts need to complement each other, and we present just sustainability transitions (JUSTRAs) to do so. To define JUSTRAs, we review the state-of-the-art literature, focusing on the understanding of these three concepts and their pairings in various disciplinary fields and empirical settings (e.g., environmental justice, just transitions, sustainability transitions, energy justice, food justice, urban justice). We center marginalized voices to highlight the processes of radical transformative change that JUSTRAs seek. We offer three analytical lenses that further the understanding of JUSTRAs: politics, power, and prefiguration. We argue that these complementary lenses are necessary to remake the world in both critical and pragmatic ways. Finally, we present a research agenda on JUSTRAs, foregrounding three complementary modes of inquiry: analyzing, critiquing, designing.

Energy sufficiency and recognition justice: a study of household consumption

The energy ‘crisis’ in Switzerland during the winter of 2022–23 highlighted the need to integrate the idea of sufficiency into previously efficiency-focused discourses and policies. A mixed-methods approach was used to explore emerging sufficiency practices and energy justice. Qualitative interviews (n = 28) with a diverse range of households and building management companies (‘régies’) in Geneva, as well as a quantitative online survey, were undertaken in 2023. It was found that different measures and recommendations did lead to efforts to reduce energy consumption, but also revealed flaws as practices typically lacked an energy justice perspective. Important discrepancies occurred between low- and high-income groups, tenants and owners, inhabitants of houses and apartments. These included a misrecognition of some residents’ vulnerabilities, their limited agency and a lack of acknowledgment of differentiated responsibilities. This led to a negative impact on the implementation of sufficiency. Some residents were marginalised: feeling anxious, disregarded, powerless, belittled and hence excluded from collective sufficiency efforts. Policy relevance Policies and strategies for the implementation of energy sufficiency measures will not be effective unless they include energy justice issues. If sufficiency policies and strategies are to be effective, they must account for differing housing, tenure, socio-economic conditions, capabilities and tackle recognition-based injustices. Decision-making spaces and processes need to become more inclusive, particularly to represent more vulnerable people, include a broader range of the socio-economic population and account for differing responsibilities.

Watt’s fair in Mumbai: intermediaries’ impact on energy justice in informal settlements

Abstract India’s ongoing energy transitions are a systemic response to addressing critical challenges associated with climate change. Importantly, it leverages decarbonization as a strategic pivot to simultaneously mitigate and adapt to climate risks. The decarbonization agenda is largely skewed towards mitigation, struggling with adaptation alignments. Energy justice is a core dimension of adaptation intervention and it is important to explore how energy justice is or can be conceptualized and delivered as the decarbonization agenda is underway. Existing research suggests that, in the cities of the Global South, active involvement of intermediaries becomes a pivotal anchor and pathway to access infrastructure services, especially in low-income and informal settlements. Importantly, advocacy efforts by intermediaries also tackle existing injustices that restrict these settlements from accessing essential infrastructure services. Intermediaries become especially important in cities like Mumbai, where 41% of the people live in informal settlements (slums). Using Mumbai as a case study, this paper explores two questions in the context of intermediaries, energy access, and energy justice. First, how do intermediaries engage with infrastructure and governance structures to enable access to electricity in informal settlements? Second, does this ‘intermediation’ deliver just outcomes? Empirical fieldwork reveals that intermediaries serve as a quasi-political counterbalance by engaging in ‘politics from the bottom’ to articulate justice concerns, mobilize stakeholders, and produce knowledge that feeds back into the intermediation process. We argue that this is important if we need to ensure that energy transitions do not create systemic inequities and that the benefits of the ongoing transition are widespread and just.

Energy burden and mental health: A national study in the United States

The prevalence of mental health issues in the US has significantly risen over the past decade, and it is presumably linked to an energy burden issue that has recently gained attention as a critical social determinant of mental health. Utilizing extensive nationwide datasets at the census tract, we found that the census tract level energy burden is positively associated with two key mental health indicators even after accounting for living, housing, and sociodemographic characteristics: the prevalence of frequent mental distress and physician-diagnosed depression, across all US urban areas. We also observe that these associations are consistent across various climate regions. The findings highlight that energy burden has a detrimental impact on mental health, and that it should be e considered a significant social determinant of health in future studies. Lastly, our study advocates for national policies to achieve energy justice and address disparities in mental health.

When does the energy transition impact household affordability? A mixed-methods comparison of fourteen coal and carbon-intensive regions

Understanding what conditions promote or hinder energy affordability in energy transitions is crucial for coal and carbon-intensive regions (CCIRs) dealing with the trade-off between phasing out fossil fuels and deepening social inequalities. While previous studies have included household and national-level conditions, this paper addresses the research gap covering regional-level conditions by drawing from regional energy governance, energy justice, and sociotechnical transition frameworks. A mixed-method approach consisting of a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis and case-study analysis is applied to 14 CCIRs in Europe, Asia, and North America. Results show that energy affordability in CCIRs is influenced by combinations of regional and (inter)national conditions. Whereas the existing literature and transition policies do not differentiate between the CCI sector’s transition type, this paper highlights that conditions underlying energy (un)affordability differ when the CCI sector is phased out or has the option to transition. Based on the findings, this study calls for a multi-level governance approach to alleviating and preventing energy unaffordability and recommends that policy mixes like the EU Just Transition Fund consider the different types of CCIR transitions.

A seat at the energy table

Abstract Energy injustice persists due to the difficulty of meeting competing interests in a rapidly evolving system. Transformative energy technologies need to fit into existing structures while also improving upon those systems. To aid in complex decisions, this paper provides a simple checklist of four necessary and often missed concepts for energy justice. Energy choices should be Supported, Environmental, Affordable, and Tolerable to provide everyone a SEAT at the energy table, in other words to promote energy justice. For the purposes of this framework, supported indicates that supply chains and infrastructure to meaningfully participate are available, environmental considerations cover climate change and health-affecting pollutants as well as disposal affecting soil and water, affordability rather straight-forwardly requires equal economic access to the energy transition, and tolerable requires personal and political buy-in. This structure is intended to aid anyone that makes decisions, i.e. not only highly specialized academics. Many technologies that address one or two of these concepts are touted as solutions to injustice, but without additional structure, they may have disbenefits in other areas. By using a simple structure to illuminate this consistent difficulty, future research and policy will be better able to promote true justice instead of tangentially addressing it in ways that fail to capture the complexities of the system. The tension between benefits and unintended consequences is explored for several energy technologies at varying stages of implementation, including electric vehicles, cooking, time-of-use pricing, and air conditioning. Existing policy mechanisms that have tried to address only some barriers have not necessarily resulted in an equitable transition. This indicates that equity needs to be considered explicitly, and that all four chair legs need to be evaluated. This method highlights the principles most easily considered in non-specialist decisions and maps them to concepts that are easy to grasp.

Swarm electrification for Raqaypampa: Impact of different battery control setpoints on energy sharing in interconnected solar homes systems

In rural electrification, decentralized systems have proven to bring fast, affordable, and sustainable electricity supply for the last mile of energy access. Especially, solar home systems (SHS) have lately increased in number and impact. Recently, a new concept promises even better utilization of SHS and the potential for higher access to electricity. This concept is found under the name of swarm electrification, also known as interconnected SHS, nanogrids, or decentralized DC systems in rural areas. This paper studies the benefits of such interconnected SHS for a case study in the indigenous rural Highlands of Bolivia, an area called Raqaypampa. Our study emphasizes analyzing the energy sharing setpoints for the decentralized battery control and how the choice of these values influences energy distribution in the community. We draw concepts of energy justice into our discussion to evaluate different combinations of battery state of charge setpoints. Our study finds four types of households in Raqaypampa based on their demand for electricity. The modeled and simulated results of a potential energy sharing through interconnected SHS reveal three outcomes for the households based on the battery state of charge setpoints: Outcome I - Improving households, Outcome II - Depending households, and Outcome III - Deteriorating households. We conclude that a common approach of e.g. minimization of total unmet demand alone will not necessarily lead to just energy distribution, and it is crucial to integrate discussions about justice and community goals into the design process from the beginning.

Examining the effect of economic complexity on energy justice

A clean and healthy environment is necessary to achieve other Sustainable Development Goals. Policymakers must find ways to minimize carbon dioxide emissions and global warming before the Sustainable Development era expires. These ills are compounded by chronic inequalities in access to clean energy and the distribution of energy infrastructure, costs, and benefits. This underscores the importance of examining, addressing, and preventing various inequalities in the energy sector. Thus, this paper endeavours to examine probably for the first time the effect of economic complexity on energy justice in a panel of 62 countries over the past decade. The measure of energy justice in this study is a rarely used indicator constructed from a range of 21 sub indicators. We also use three sub-indices of energy justice: distributive justice, procedural justice, and restorative justice. The empirical analyses based on a range of robust estimation approaches consistently provide strong evidence that, on average, economic complexity improves energy justice and its three sub components. Finally, the results from the mediation analysis show that the positive effect of economic complexity on energy justice mediates through income, and human capital. Based on these results, some policy recommendations are made for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 7, 8, and 16.

How do multidimensional energy justices work?: Specifying the role of anthropocentric and ecological justice in the acceptance of solar energy.

This study analyzed the acceptance of solar energy in terms of energy justice. The critical issue of energy supply, demand, and transition is a process of social redistribution of risks from old to new energy systems. The question of the appropriate distribution of risks for the energy system is closely related to energy justice. Previous studies are limited in empirically testing whether or not energy justice can contribute to the acceptance of new energy system. In addition, previous studies have heavily depended on energy justice in terms of anthropocentric type. Anthropocentric definitions of energy justice have focused primarily on the benefits and costs allocated only to humans. Such an anthropocentric view of justice lacks consideration of the value of various ecological beings. Therefore, this study aims to shed light on the role of not only four anthropocentric types of energy justices but also on for four ecological ones in the acceptance of solar energy. The analysis reveals that recognitive justice, generational justice, deep ecological justice, social ecological justice, and distributional justice positively influence the acceptance of solar energy, whereas procedural justice, restorative justice, and eco-socialist justice have no effect on it. In particular, this study found that recognitive justice moderates the effect of personal norms on acceptance of solar energy, whereas restorative justice moderates the effect of knowledge on it.

Energy democracy: Reclaiming a unique agenda in energy transitions research

The intersection of energy transitions and equity is a rapidly expanding area of research and concern. Within this literature, energy democracy and energy justice have arisen as two equity-related concepts sharing both overlap and distinctions, at times leading to conceptual confusion and diverging recommendations on how to address their overlap. Given the importance that research adequately wrestles with the intersection of energy transitions and equity, it is critical that scholars do not inadvertently obscure the complexities inherent in this field of research. With this in mind, our perspective paper illustrates the uniqueness of these concepts, with particular focus on energy democracy.While energy justice has arisen as a valuable academic framework for assessing critical energy issues, we differentiate energy democracy as both a critique of dominant approaches to energy transitions and the offering of an alternative vision involving the reconfiguration of social relations in energy systems. We argue that without understanding the broader struggles in which energy democracy is embedded, it may otherwise be difficult to understand why its distinctiveness matters. Our paper therefore situates energy democracy within broader struggles to prefigure a democratic economy. Further, we argue that critical engagement with these broader social movements and their associated literatures may position energy researchers to better wrestle with challenges facing energy democracy and energy transitions, including systemic power imbalances, Western biases in equity-related frameworks, and the structural barriers inherent in existing economic systems.

A global fairtrade partnership needed to address injustices in the supply chains of clean energy technology materials

Abstract Renewable sources produced close to one-third of the world’s electricity in 2023. However, a limited but growing body of research suggests rapid renewable energy development is leading to conflict and resource exploitation in energy-transitioning communities. Such injustices are attributable to the extractivist nature of renewable energy development, where raw materials, also known as Clean Energy Technology Materials (CETMs), are in limited quantities and often concentrated in resource-constrained zones in the Global South. In this perspective, we call for an urgent need for energy justice considerations in CETM’s supply chain. We used demand projection data from 2020 to 2040 to look into the effects of important CETMs like nickel, cobalt, and lithium on distributive justice. We also examined the potential of these effects to tackle systemic injustices such as conflict, labor exploitation, and transactional colonialism. Next, we analyzed global mining production data from the United States Geological Survey using a CETM life cycle lens and found that increasing demand for these materials is exacerbating restorative injustices, particularly in the Global South. Finally, building on the above evidence, we called for the creation of multi-stakeholder partnerships and the establishment of fair trade standards across the critical CETM supply chain. Graphical abstract Highlights Here, we analyzed the projected demand growth for selected clean energy technology materials by 2040 relative to 2020 levels using data from the International Energy Agency, visualized their global mining production using data from the United States Geological Survey, explained how the demand for these materials is exacerbating certain injustices, and recommended multi-stakeholder partnerships across the supply chain of these materials. Discussion The rapid growth of renewable energy technologies is creating injustices throughout the supply chain of clean energy technology materials (CETM). A lack of any energy justice framework across CETMs’ extraction, processing, decommissioning, and recycling is exacerbating restorative injustices, especially in the Global South. By examining the projected demands and geospatial patterns for the extraction of minerals, metals, and other materials essential for clean energy technology development, the inequities faced by impoverished, marginalized, and Indigenous communities become apparent. We argue that if coffee can have fair trade standards across its supply chain, why can’t we have similar considerations for the CETMs? There is a need to include transparency in the sustainability, ethics, and energy efficiency of CETM extraction and processing through global partnerships across its supply chain.

Intersecting Inequalities and Energy Justice: A Literature Review

Intersecting Inequalities and Energy Justice: A Literature Review

If it’s in our backyard: the roles of local knowledge in the formation of a nuclear oversight organisation

ABSTRACT Local knowledge is recognised as a critical element of global energy transition and energy justice. This paper explores the roles local knowledge in the formation of a community organisation responsible for monitoring the nuclear facility operations, governance, and public risk communication. Our case study examines a local nuclear oversight organisation in the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa region in Japan, where suggestions have been made to consider nation-wide institutionalisation of organisations similar to French Commissions Locales d’Information (Local Information Commissions). Our findings reveal the critical roles of three forms of local knowledge, with a particular emphasis on the nuanced yet crucial impact of everyday-life knowledge (seikatsu-chi), a facet not extensively explored in existing studies, in facilitating the establishment of the local organisation.