Energy Justice Research Articles

Energy Justice and Equity: Applying a Critical Perspective to the Electrical Power Grid for a More Just Transition in the United States

Energy Justice and Equity: Applying a Critical Perspective to the Electrical Power Grid for a More Just Transition in the United States

Quantifying Energy Justice Goals in the Power Sector: Developing and Using Metrics

Quantifying Energy Justice Goals in the Power Sector: Developing and Using Metrics

“We struggle to survive”: Exploring the whole systems energy injustices of solar photovoltaics in India

Solar photovoltaics (PV) are among the cheapest forms of energy globally and one of the most effective options for mitigating the climate crisis in the electricity sector. In 2023, solar PV accounted for roughly 75 % of renewable power capacity additions globally, and capacity is expected to grow 20-fold by 2050. However, the political ecologies of solar power are uneven. Throughout the value chain, there are numerous social and environmental injustices experienced by laborers and in communities that are converted to sacrifice zones for sustainable development. Despite being the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, India is developing solar infrastructures at a rapid pace to mitigate the climate crisis. Drawn from a rich collection of original data—household surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and naturalistic observation across various sites—in this study, we investigate perceptions by laborers of the hidden injustices of solar energy at multiple nodes of the solar PV lifecycle or value chain: silica mining (Uttar Pradesh), solar panel manufacturing (Karnataka), solar park development (Rajasthan), solar park operation (Rajasthan), e-waste (Delhi) and recycling (Tamil Nadu). We conclude with novel findings and urgent recommendations for future policy and research on India’s solar PV value chain.

Bioenergy: Paradoxes and dilemmas of a promising energy alternative

The energy production that still moves the world comes in the vast majority from fossil sources. However, according to renewable energy main institutions reports, the sources from which this renewable energy is being generated are hydropower with the highest percentage by far, 41.2%, followed by solar 31.2%, wind 26.4%, bioenergy 4.5%, geothermal 0.4%, and tidal with a minimum percentage of 0.02 %. Therefore, bioenergy is located as another of the promising renewable energies, but still with a very low percentage. As biomass is the main source of bioenergy, it is the renewable energy source with the greatest variety of inputs, for example, biogas from landfill or thermal processes, solid biofuels from wood, municipal waste, and crops or animal waste, and liquid biofuels from conventional and advanced bio gasoline and biodiesel, among others. The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze the uses of biomass in some Latin American countries, offering a general reflection on this region, and to expand on the various faces of energy injustice suffered by a series of communities, and also the advances that the bioenergy sources could offer; therefore, the structure of this chapter is as follows: first, some general information and facts related to one of its inputs -the steadily growing problem of human waste production- are exposed. Then, a brief description of bioenergy advances in some Latin America countries is offered, to close with the identification of some challenges to be addressed within the domain of bioenergy and with some conclusions.

Nepal's Rapid Rural Electrification Achievement: A Review

Nepal has been able to accelerate electricity access to rural areas very rapidly from early 2000s. Though the existing literature provides insights into the factors, enablers, challenges, and institutional models influencing rural electrification in Nepal, there is currently very little assessment of the specific factors that led to Nepal’s rapid rural electricity access in the first two decades of this century. This review paper investigates what spurred this rapid rural electrification in Nepal. The study employs a literature review approach and uses the multi-level perspective and energy justice frameworks for a holistic interpretation of findings of the literature review. Analysis of the findings from the literature review indicate that Nepal's rapid electrification can be assessed primarily through the perspectives of governance and policies. The discussion also touches on the institutional context, the politics surrounding the electrification transition, and policy innovations. The effectiveness of the polices is also analysed through an energy justice perspective. The analysis highlights challenges and disparities in geographical distribution and energy justice. The paper argues that Nepal’s rural electricity access was boosted by political and socio-economic conditions, like advent of democracy and large-scale foreign employment, and was propelled by innovative government policies for grid based and off-grid rural electrification. However, it also concludes that work still needs to be done from an energy justice perspective to bring about geographical and economic equity in the effort.

Why does community ownership foster greater acceptance of renewable projects? Investigating energy justice explanations

ABSTRACT The fact that community ownership increases the social acceptability of renewable energy projects is well established, but there is a lack of empirical evidence to explain why this is the case. This study examines whether energy justice factors (fair involvement, fair distribution of benefits and perceived impacts from wind turbines) can help explain this relationship, whether these factors are interrelated, and whether different ownership structures (community, shared or private ownership) change these associations. Using a postal survey of residents in Scotland (n = 320), the study employs a novel method, Multigroup-Structural Equation Modelling, to investigate these questions. This modelling reveals that acceptance of these projects was influenced by factors of energy justice (i.e. fair involvement, fair benefits and perceived impacts), but the influence from each factor depended on the ownership structure. Specifically, those near the community-owned project prioritised involvement, those near the privately-owned valued fair benefits, and those near the shared ownership prioritised both. By examining the relationships amongst energy justice factors, the real-life complexity of people’s responses to wind energy projects is revealed, whereby factors can have knock-on effects. Importantly, this study finds that the community and shared ownership projects fostered greater community acceptance than the privately-owned because they had more instances where fair involvement influenced other factors, which led to greater overall acceptance. Although community involvement may seem time-consuming, a more inclusive approach can prevent long-term issues caused by local opposition. Policy Highlights Community ownership of renewable energy projects leads to greater acceptance by local residents, as long as the projects meet their expectations. Energy justice plays a crucial role in acceptance of onshore wind energy projects, but residents prioritise different aspects depending on ownership. Policymakers and developers should take into account the preferences and concerns of local residents when designing renewable projects, especially in terms of fair involvement and fair distribution of benefits. Better support for communities and developers is essential if the Scottish Government want shared ownership offered on all new projects.

Clean energy transition and energy security in metropolises: A case study of Beijing under the “coal-to-gas” movement

The transition to clean energy is one of the most important trends of development in the contemporary world, and ensuring energy security during the energy transition has naturally become an issue that urgently needs to be studied. Unlike most studies that analyze this issue at the global and sovereign national levels, this article delves back to the subnational level. It focuses on exploring energy security guarantees in metropolitan areas while considering differences in urban hierarchies. Considering that Beijing is not only the most influential metropolis in China but also a pioneer in promoting clean energy transition globally, this article analyzes the energy security issues in Beijing through the framework of Energy Security and Sustainable Development and explores the policy actions taken during the 2017 “coal-to-gas” movement by the city. Our research shows that the transition to clean energy may reduce the energy security of metropolitan areas. However, the big cities can receive prioritized protection from the central government and state-owned enterprises due to their prominent political status. However, the cost of ensuring energy security in urban areas may be passed on to their surrounding areas, where their energy security may be additionally impacted. These findings indicate that it is necessary to distinguish and examine the energy security of the metropolitan areas and surrounding regions. Only when energy justice is protected can urban areas truly achieve energy security.

Towards Just and Integrated Energy Transition in Taiwan: A Socio-Spatial Perspective

Energy justice remains relatively under-researched outside of the Western context, especially in Asia. This paper addresses that gap by investigating the process of energy transition in Taiwan through the socio-spatial lens and institutional points of view. The paper underscores the urgency of recognizing and addressing the overlooked social injustices across different territories, advocating an integrated planning approach that incorporates a just energy transition perspective to reduce the uneven negative impacts of deploying renewable energies across communities and regional territories. Drawing on a case study of the Changhua region, the paper identifies conflicts arising from the rapid deployment of renewable energy, such as land use changes that displace farming activities and negatively affect rural stakeholders. The findings suggest the need to urgently address the gap between top–down goals in energy transition and bottom–up considerations to raise awareness and prevent injustices that risk deepening the existing socio-economic inequities. This paper also proposes a new framework for both new research and policy for (just) energy transition, incorporating distributional, procedural, and recognitional concerns together with a critical view on the cross-scale and cross-sectoral integration as part of the spatial planning process.

Estimating the income-related inequality aversion to energy limiting behavior in the United States

Distributive energy justice is measured by the degree to which, and whether, different members of society have equal share in the benefits and burdens of the energy system. One way to achieve distributional energy justice is to ensure all households, regardless of income, can use as much energy as they need to heat and cool their home to desired temperature. We define a household's cooling balance point (CBP) as the ideal set temperature at which the household desires to keep its living space in summer; the heating balance point (HBP) is defined as the ideal set temperature in winter. To quantify the extent to which balance points were disproportionately concentrated among certain income groups, we used the extended concentration index. This index has an inequality aversion parameter that reflects the value judgment of a society. If this parameter <1, the society is pro-rich; if this parameter >1, as it increases, the society becomes more pro-poor. We estimated the empirical value of the income-related inequality aversion in eight U.S. states and examined several effects of demographic characteristics on inequality aversion.In an online survey, 1066 (from four southern states) and 906 (from four Midwest states) participants made choices between energy policies leading to different distributions of CBP (southern) or HBP (Midwest) across five income groups in a hypothetical society. Participants showed a pro-poor propensity: the median inequality aversions were 1.37, 95% CI of [1.35, 1.39] (CBP) and 1.56, 95% CI of [1.56, 1.60] (HBP). For both CBP and HBP: younger participants were less averse to inequality. For CBP, blacks (vs. whites) and conservatives (vs. centrist) were less averse to inequality; for HBP, Hispanics (vs. whites), low (vs. high) education participants, and those whose homes were well insulated (vs. adequately and vs. poorly insulated) were less averse to inequality. Our findings provide insights into how the broader public values energy justice, which further provides important policymaking implications.

A new scenario framework for equitable and climate-compatible futures

ABSTRACT This paper demonstrates a modelling approach and scenario framework for global burden-sharing, that foregrounds questions of climate and energy justice. We classify 134 countries into four development categories based on thirteen indicators. Using the quadratic plateau model, we estimate that an energy threshold of 94 GJ and an income threshold of USD 28,500 are necessary for meeting sustained levels of development in health, education, and infrastructure. We construct baseline scenarios for convergence to these and other threshold values drawn from the literature. Emissions constraints are then imposed in the form of the remaining carbon budget corresponding to the temperature targets of the Paris Agreement to assess the degree of energy-emissions and energy-GDP decoupling required to meet them. Our results show that limiting warming to 1.5°C requires higher effort across all regions, with the global effort remaining similar across scenarios. However, the distribution of the global effort across development categories varies significantly, depending on whether energy and climate equity are considered. The mitigation burden for the highest development category is almost six times higher if climate equity is considered. In contrast, the effort required by the least developed category is doubled if climate equity is compromised.

Participatory research in energy justice: guiding principles and practice

This perspective explores the imperative role of participatory research (PR) in advancing energy justice. We argue that using PR methods and principles at the intersection of energy and equity is a critical research advantage. Here, we contend that PR frameworks are integral to bridging the gap between energy justice theory and practice, emphasizing the need to move beyond decontextualized principles to address specific injustices related to race, class, gender, and coloniality. We present three energy justice case studies that used participatory approaches in diverse contexts: Amazon, Brazil; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; and Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA. These cases showcase the versatility of PR methods in understanding and addressing unique energy challenges within local communities. We highlight guiding principles of PR, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing community needs, respecting diverse expertise, building trust, designing for transparency and accountability, choosing appropriate methods, adapting and being flexible, and aiming for long-term collaboration. Lastly, our perspective suggests future directions for participatory energy justice research, including the potential for PR to inform multiscalar policy, practice, and advocacy. We underscore the importance of collaborations between university researchers and community organizations through citizen science, emphasizing the need for diverse disciplinary perspectives to effectively address complex energy justice challenges.

AHP TOPSIS Analysis in Selecting Waste Processing Technology Based on Energy Justice

The amount of waste in Bantul Regency increased by 4.96% from 2020 to 2021, indicating that the capacity of final disposal sites (FDS) in Piyungan District, Bantul Regency, was decreasing. The peak occurred from 23 July 2023 to 5 September 2023, during which the Piyungan FDS could not provide waste disposal services. The high poverty rate in Bantul Regency forces the government to process waste into energy as a sustainable waste management effort. However, numerous criteria make it difficult to determine which technology is most suitable for this purpose. Energy justice criteria need to be considered when choosing technology and efforts to improve the welfare of Bantul Regency's residents. This research aimed to present an assessment of each alternative technology for processing waste into energy and decide one suitable alternative for sustainable waste management in Bantul Regency using a combination of AHP and TOPSIS methods based on energy justice. AHP was used to assess the level of importance of each criterion, while TOPSIS was used to determine the optimal alternative based on the criteria by considering costs and benefits. The findings showed that the preference value for three alternatives was 0.579, 0.414, and 0.341 for incineration, pyrolysis, and gasification, respectively. According to these preference value, incineration was identified as the foremost viable alternative technology for implementation in Bantul Regency. Gasification and pyrolysis ranked as the subsequent and third alternatives, respectively.

Equitable charging infrastructure for electric vehicles: access and experience

The shift toward electric vehicles (EVs) as a decarbonisation strategy in transportation raises important energy justice concerns, particularly regarding fair access to charging infrastructure. This perspective synthesizes evidence on how access to, and experience of, charging infrastructure may differ across socio-economic groups across North America. We present a framework for assessing charging infrastructure equity that includes: (i) accessibility—proximity, reliability, visibility, affordability; and (ii) user experiences—safety, payment ease, and co-located other services. The framework helps characterize the varied impacts across socio-demographic groups, including on low-income and marginalized communities. We explore how the direct and indirect effects of accessibility and user experience might influence the distribution and design of EV charging stations. Considerations of socio-economic diversity in the deployment of charging infrastructure are critical to ensure equitable benefits from electric mobility. We conclude that targeted actions from manufacturers, charging operators, and governments are needed to alleviate the disparities in access and experiences with public EV charging.

A just energy transition for Indigenous peoples: From ideal deliberation to fairness in Canada and Australia

In response to the global climate crisis, renewable energy projects are being developed on Indigenous territories. As renewable energy sources are not without social and ecological impacts, it is crucial to consider who benefits from these projects and who bears the consequences. In settler states such as Canada and Australia, the power dynamics are affecting the role of Indigenous peoples in the energy transitions. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for a just energy transition (JET) based on a comprehensive literature review of justice movements, energy transitions, and Indigenous experiences in Canada and Australia. The literature on environmental, climate, and energy justice examines three dimensions of justice: procedural, distributional, and recognition. While these dimensions offer important perspectives for our analysis, they are not sufficient on their own. This paper argues that promoting justice for Indigenous knowledge renewal is crucial for establishing a fair energy future. In addition to knowledge renewal, our framework comprises two more JET components: socioeconomic impact distribution, and procedural power. We argue that the JET components are deeply interrelated in an insidious loop effect. This means that all justice issues have the same roots, perpetuated by the historical consequences of colonisation. The question is how to simultaneously address them to transform a negative cycle into a positive one. Drawing on Indigenous rights in Canada and Australia this paper highlights the importance of improved bilateral communication strategies to break the insidious loop effect. Before discussing project strategies, it is crucial to consider the fairness of the decision-making process.

Rescaling wind energy governance – the dynamic interplay between efficiency and justice in energy policy constructions

ABSTRACT Renewable energy transitions are considered key to fuel green transitions. Wind energy is positioned as a cost-beneficial energy source, but also generates environmental conflicts and contestations of distribution of power and benefits. Scalar changes (rescaling) of political, social, and economic structures and processes have gained increased awareness. Less attention has been given to how energy policies influence the scaling of governance regimes, and how energy policies are shaped by changing perceptions and claims. The article explores how and why energy policies rescale governance regimes of wind energy in Norway, Denmark and Scotland. It examines the emergent and relational socio-spatial processes of energy policymaking as assemblages and analyses material and expressive forces influencing wind energy policies and governance scaling/rescaling. The authors find that perceptions of legitimate governance frameworks within energy policy constructions are destabilized/stabilized over time. Scalar shifts within governance frameworks are influenced by forces of market concerns, green growth and value creation, by energy security concerns, stability and industry development, and by concerns of societal welfare, independence, and provision. The authors conclude that divergent forces destabilizing/stabilizing energy policy assemblages and deterritorializing/reterritorializing scalar configurations are influenced by concerns of both energy efficiency and energy justice.

The political ecology of justice outcomes of lithium mining: The case of Salar del Hombre Muerto, Argentina

Electromobility and lithium-ion batteries are seen as key for the global energy transition, but injustices have been identified in several stages of the life cycle of electric vehicles, particularly in the resource extraction stage. Little is known about the micropolitics driving the acceptance or contestation of lithium mining by communities directly affected by this activity in the highland Andes of South America. In this paper, we explore complaints and demands made by communities living near Salar del Hombre Muerto, a salt flat in the Argentinian province of Catamarca where lithium has been extracted for decades. Having collected ethnographic data from conversations with affected communities and during public meetings and hearings, we applied a coding process using political ecology and energy justice conceptual frameworks. This led to the identification of place-based complaints and demands associated with distributive, procedural, and recognition justice. We further discuss our findings in terms of recent literature on lithium mining to provide explanations of the justice outcomes identified. Although lithium mining may not be the sole cause of (at least some of) these injustices, it nevertheless generates expectations and catalyzes attempts to end marginalization in areas where local and regional institutions are incapable of doing so.

Legal remedies for energy injustice in the ECOWAS sub-region: the role of the ECOWAS Court

The concept of energy justice has been of much scholarly interest in applying justice principles to energy policy, energy production and systems, energy consumption, political economy of energy and climate change, among other areas. However, legal remedies for energy injustice have not been seriously examined; nor has the topic been considered from the perspective of the Global South. Therefore, this article seeks to examine legal remedies for energy injustice in the ECOWAS sub-region and the role that the Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice, otherwise known as ECOWAS Court, can play in granting these remedies. It finds that the concept of energy justice is an evolving one and that at its current level of evolution, the concept has somewhat incorporated the idea of distributional justice, recognition-based justice and procedural justice. Against the backdrop of these findings, the article argues that energy justice in a distributional, recognition-based and procedural sense can be couched in terms of human rights law under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and can be actualised before the ECOWAS Court. It concludes that energy justice, in its present state of evolution, can be substantially actualised in terms of human rights law before the ECOWAS Court.

Offshore Wind Farms and Tourism Development Relationship to Energy Distribution Justice for the Beibu Gulf, China

Energy distribution justice is of primary concern within the energy justice framework and it is crucial to increase public acceptance of offshore wind energy and further advance its development. The rapid development of offshore wind energy in China has inevitably impacted the livelihoods of coastal vulnerable groups (CVGs) engaged in fisheries and tourism in the coastal zone. While current policies often compensate for livelihood losses through cash payments, the fiscal strain caused by COVID-19 renders this approach unsustainable. Consequently, this research pioneers the exploration of Chinese tourist groups’ landscape preferences towards offshore wind farms (OWFs). This study proposes a new approach to enhance OWF landscapes for tourism development, thereby balancing the distribution of costs and benefits between CVGs and tourists. The research focuses on Beihai City in the Beibu Gulf Economic Region, utilizing a combination of Q-methodology and choice experiments that incorporates cut-offs. Answers to eighty Q-methodology questionnaires and 1324 choice experiment questionnaires are obtained. The findings indicate that this region can achieve energy distribution justice by compensating for the livelihood losses of CVGs through tourism. Contrary to traditional assumptions about wind farm noise preferences, Chinese tourists prefer proximity to OWFs, as an appropriate coastal acoustics landscape can enhance their tourism experience. In light of these findings, this paper presents policy recommendations towards energy distribution justice.

Exploring policy coherence to understand limited progress of gender and social inclusion in the energy sector: The case of Nepal

Goal 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030 but securing universal access to energy supplies remains a challenge worldwide. There is increased recognition that gender and social inclusion (GESI) is critical for the transition towards low-carbon energy.Nepal's inclusive 2015 Constitution, and its 2021 federal-level Gender Equality Policy translate this commitment. Likewise, Nepal is committed to SDG 7. Yet energy policy includes only limited provisions for ensuring energy access by marginalized groups and women. This paper focuses on energy policy coherence to identify cohesion between policies and policy instruments at different levels of governance to identify bottlenecks to GESI. Using a policy coherence and feminist policy approach within an energy justice context, it traces the coherence of GESI policy through time and in relation to overall GESI policy objectives. Horizontal and internal coherence are assessed through the parallels/disjoints between energy-related periodic plans, policies, budgets, and GESI aims. The evolution of GESI in energy investments has been slow in part because of a narrow conceptualization of the policy problem and a lack of coherence and synchronization across documents, which undermines implementation of the GESI agenda.

Reading the room: developing a practical justice politics of regional energy transition

ABSTRACT This study looks at the case of industrial energy transition campaigning by a traditional conservation group in a regional city that hosts coal- fired power and emissions-intensive industry. We ask, what tensions do metropolitan campaigners find when communicating the idea of just transition and building alliances in regional places? How do they deal with those tensions? What does this mean for the task of developing ‘useable useful theories of environmental justice’ ? Our results illustrate the need to navigate three principal tensions: inclusivity, recognition, and equity. The case of the Australian Conservation Foundation in Gladstone reveals that as these tensions get worked through, the campaign goal is reframed as something other than ‘just transition’ and more akin to a local environmental justice campaigning. Ultimately, the ENGO now wrestles with the local difficulties of building energy justice politics on the scale and time-frame that climate science implies.