•Energy policy increasingly takes account of the needs of commercial finance.•The multi-billion mobilisation of energy finance has significant justice impacts.•There are 6 principles of ‘just’ energy ...finance.•Energy policy focusses only on affordability, missing five remaining principles.
Up to $61trillion of power systems investment is needed to fulfil the Paris Agreement. The mobilisation of so much capital is a huge challenge. As such, energy policy is changing to meet the needs of commercial finance. However, very little has been done to question the justice implications of this capital mobilisation, and what alternatives there are to commercially-oriented finance for low carbon energy systems. This paper uses a comparative analysis of two developed economies to explore how ‘alternative’ forms of finance operate in each nation’s energy investment landscape. We find alternative finance is often set in opposition to commercial capital. Alternative finance in both nations is motivated by financial justice outcomes that are poorly understood in current energy policy. Our findings suggest that 6 principles are key to ‘just’ energy finance: affordability, good governance, due process, intra-generational equity, spatial equity, and financial resilience. Energy policy that seeks to mobilise capital, should take account of all six principles.
The transition to low carbon energy and transport systems requires an unprecedented roll-out of new infrastructure technologies, containing significant quantities of critical raw materials. Many of ...these technologies are based on general purpose technologies, such as permanent magnets and electric motors, that are common across different infrastructure systems. Circular economy initiatives that aim to institute better resource management practices could exploit these technological commonalities through the reuse and remanufacturing of technology components across infrastructure systems. In this paper, we analyze the implementation of such processes in the transition to low carbon electricity generation and transport on the Isle of Wight, UK. We model two scenarios relying on different renewable energy technologies, with the reuse of Lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles for grid-attached storage. A whole-system analysis that considers both electricity and transport infrastructure demonstrates that the optimal choice of renewable technology can be dependent on opportunities for component reuse and material recycling between the different infrastructure systems. Hydrogen fuel cell based transport makes use of platinum from obsolete catalytic converters whereas lithium-ion batteries can be reused for grid-attached storage when they are no longer useful in vehicles. Trade-offs exist between the efficiency of technology reuse, which eliminates the need for new technologies for grid attached storage completely by 2033, and the higher flexibility afforded by recycling at the material level; reducing primary material demand for Lithium by 51% in 2033 compared to 30% achieved by battery reuse. This analysis demonstrates the value of a methodology that combines detailed representations of technologies and components with a systemic approach that includes multiple, interconnected infrastructure systems.
•A dynamic material flow analysis of technology components is applied.•Potential reuse of components across infrastructures is evaluated.•Inclusion of technological detail enhances socio-economic metabolism approaches.•Use of Li-ion batteries from vehicles for grid-attached storage mitigates criticality.•This has significant potential as a circular economy initiative.
Global GHG emissions continue to rise, with nearly a quarter of it due to trade that is not currently captured within global climate policy. In the context of current trade patterns and limited ...global cooperation on climate change, the feasibility of consumption-based emissions accounting to contribute to a more comprehensive (national) policy framework in the UK is investigated. Consumption-based emissions results for the UK from a range of models are presented, their technical robustness is assessed, and their potential application in national climate policy is examined using examples of policies designed to reduce carbon leakage and to address high levels of consumption. It is shown that there is a need to include consumption-based emissions as a complementary indicator to the current approach of measuring territorial emissions. Methods are shown to be robust enough to measure progress on climate change and develop and inform mitigation policy. Finally, some suggestions are made for future policy-oriented research in the area of consumption-based accounting that will facilitate its application to policy. Policy relevance Emissions embodied in trade are rapidly increasing and there is thus a growing gap between production emissions and the emissions associated with consumption. This is a growing concern due to the absence of a global cap and significant variation in country-level mitigation ambitions. Robust measurements of consumption-based emissions are possible and provide new insights into policy options. This includes trade-related policy (e.g. border carbon adjustments) and domestic policies (e.g. resource efficiency strategies). As climate policy targets deepen, there is a need for a broad range of policy options in addition to production and technological solutions. Consumption-based emissions are complementary to production-based emissions inventories, which are still the most accurate estimate for aggregated emissions at the global level. However, without consumption-based approaches, territorial emissions alone will not provide a complete picture of progress in regional and national emissions reduction.
•We present a method to analyse material criticality of infrastructure transitions.•Criticality is defined as the potential for, and exposure to, supply disruption.•Our method is dynamic reducing the ...probability of lock-in to at-risk technologies.•We show that supply disruption potential is reducing but exposure is increasing.
Decarbonisation of existing infrastructure systems requires a dynamic roll-out of technology at an unprecedented scale. The potential disruption in supply of critical materials could endanger such a transition to low-carbon infrastructure and, by extension, compromise energy security more broadly because low carbon technologies are reliant on these materials in a way that fossil-fuelled energy infrastructure is not. Criticality is currently defined as the combination of the potential for supply disruption and the exposure of a system of interest to that disruption. We build on this definition and develop a dynamic approach to quantifying criticality, which monitors the change in criticality during the transition towards a low-carbon infrastructure goal. This allows us to assess the relative risk of different technology pathways to reach a particular goal and reduce the probability of being ‘locked in’ to currently attractive but potentially future-critical technologies. To demonstrate, we apply our method to criticality of the proposed UK electricity system transition, with a focus on neodymium. We anticipate that the supply disruption potential of neodymium will decrease by almost 30% by 2050; however, our results show the criticality of low carbon electricity production increases ninefold over this period, as a result of increasing exposure to neodymium-reliant technologies.
This research investigates the new opportunities that business model innovations are creating in electricity supply markets at the sub-national scale. These local supply business models can offer ...significant benefits to the electricity system, but also generate economic, social, and environmental values that are not well accounted for in current policy or regulation. This paper uses the UK electricity supply market to investigate new business models which rely on more complex value propositions than the incumbent utility model. Nine archetypal local supply business models are identified and their value propositions, value capture methods, and barriers to market entry are analysed. This analysis defines 'complex value' as a key concept in understanding business model innovation in the energy sector. The process of complex value identification poses a challenge to energy researchers, commercial firms and policymakers in liberalised markets; to investigate the opportunities for system efficiency and diverse outcomes that new supplier business models can offer to the electricity system.
•Business models of energy supply markets shape energy transitions.•The British system misses four opportunities of local electricity supply.•Nine new business model archetypes of local supply are analysed.•New electricity business models have complex value propositions.•A process for policy response to business model innovation is presented.
Menstrual health in humanitarian contexts is a neglected topic. Its taboo nature presents difficulties for participants in menstrual health projects in these particularly challenging settings. ...Namely, their experiences may be concealed or overlooked in projects that are typically outcome focused. Realist Evaluation is a useful method to unearth and explore the hidden mechanisms and their causes, which lead to positive or negative participant experiences. The authors have applied this approach to a robust humanitarian menstrual health project to explore how to centre the emotional wellbeing of participants at all stages: prior to, during, and post-participation.
The project studied was led by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies who piloted their adaptable manual for menstruator-friendly water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) facility design in humanitarian contexts. It was conducted by the Lebanese Red Cross in an informal tented settlement hosting Syrian refugees in Qaa, Lebanon.
The authors collected interview and focus group data on the contextual factors and processes within the project from nine project staff and 16 settlement inhabitants. They used a realist process of theory development, testing, and consolidation to understand how and under what circumstances the project inputs affected participants' wellbeing.
The contextual factors and causal mechanisms promoting participant experience comprised individual (choices influencing and experience during participation), interpersonal (group dynamics and the role of non-menstruators), and organisational (expertise and knowledge, relationship to participants and cultural differences) factors.
The research uses a case study from a renowned humanitarian organisation who provided a well-delivered project in a conducive environment to explore the mechanisms and contexts that can promote wider learning and refine understanding and programming in this under-researched and -theorised space. Specifically, it informs which contextual factors and project inputs must be present within a menstrual health project to ensure participant satisfaction whilst efficiently delivering well-designed menstruator-friendly WaSH facilities.
In order to mitigate the well-being impacts of climate change effectively, we must reduce our use of fossil fuels. However, many contemporary forms of well-being attainment still depend heavily on ...the use of fossil fuel derived energy. Therefore, certain necessary forms of climate change mitigation are likely to conflict with current means of well-being attainment in many groups and societies. In particular our concern is that certain forms of mitigation, which target lifestyle choices, consumption behaviour, and technological choices, do and will have disproportionate impacts on certain vulnerable groups in society e.g. households in fuel poverty or individuals with particular disabilities. It is evident that climate change mitigation discourse has only sparsely integrated well-being thought. We argue that a fuller integration of well-being into mitigation thinking could help avoid exacerbating current and future well-being conflicts that will arise between climate change mitigation and fossil fuel derived use.
To help achieve this, we reason that climate change mitigation and fossil fuel derived use must not be viewed separately but by their relationships to well-being. We articulate the individual processes of fossil fuel derived energy use, climate change mitigation and well-being attainment in more detail, presenting their relationships to one another in the form of tensions. We present a capabilities conception of well-being that we argue is best suited for operationalising well-being with regards to fully capturing these tensions. We then develop a conceptual framework through a theoretical synthesis of existing on well-being, energy, and climate change, which illustrates how these tensions arise. This framework also serves to illustrate how a change in one process will affect the others. We outline how this framework can help illustrate the points at which misguided climate change mitigation can conflict with current means of attaining well-being from fossil derived energy. We then conclude that the use of this framework and further integration of well-being thought could help avoid and ameliorate well-being conflicts when developing future climate change mitigation.
Moving to a low carbon society requires pro-active decisions to transform social and physical systems and their supporting infrastructure. However, the inherent complexity of these systems leads to ...uncertainty in their responses to interventions, and their critical societal role means that stakes are high. Techniques for decision making under deep uncertainty (DMDU) have recently begun to be applied in the context of transformation to a low carbon society. Applying DMDU to support transformation necessitates careful attention to uncertainty in system relationships (structural uncertainty), and to actions targeting deep leverage points to transform system relationships. This paper presents outcomes of a structured literature review of 44 case studies in which DMDU is applied to infrastructure decisions. Around half of these studies are found to neglect structural uncertainty entirely, and no study explicitly considers alternative system conceptions. Three quarters of studies consider actions targeting only parameters, a shallow leverage point for system transformation. Where actions targeting deeper leverage points are included, models of system relationships are unable to represent the transformative change these interventions could effect. The lack of attention to structural uncertainty in these studies could lead to misleading results in complex and poorly understood systems. The lack of interventions targeting deep leverage points could lead to neglect of some of the most effective routes to achieving transformative change. This review recommends greater attention to deeper leverage points and structural uncertainty in applications of DMDU targeting transformative change.
Climate change mitigation has two main characteristics that interact to make it an extremely demanding challenge of governance: the complexity of the socio-technical systems that must be transformed ...to avoid climate change and the presence of profound uncertainties. A number of tools and approaches exist, which aim to help manage these challenges and support long-term decision making. However, most tools and approaches assume that there is one decision maker with clearly defined objectives. The interaction between decision makers with differing perspectives and agency is an additional uncertainty that is rarely addressed, despite the wide recognition that action is required at multiple scales and by multiple actors. This article draws inspiration from dynamic adaptive policy pathways to build on current decision support methods, extending analysis to include the perspectives and agency of multiple actors through a case study of the UK construction sector. The findings demonstrate the importance of considering alignment between perspectives, agency and potential actions when developing plans; the need for mobilizing and advocacy actions to build momentum for radical change; and the crucial influence of interaction between actors. The decision support approach presented could improve decision making by reflecting the diversity and interaction of actors; identifying short-term actions that connect to long-term goals and keeping future options open.
Key policy insights
Multiple actors, with differing motivations, agency and influence, must engage with climate change mitigation, but may not do so, if proposed actions do not align with their motivations or if they do not have agency to undertake specific actions.
Current roadmaps, which assume there is one decision maker with control over a whole system, might overstate how effective proposed actions could be.
Decision making under deep uncertainty needs to account for the motivations and agency of diverse decision makers and the interaction between these decision makers.
This could increase the implementation and effectiveness of mitigation activities.
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