Temporality, vulnerability, and energy justice in household low carbon innovations

Decarbonisation and innovation will change the affordability of different domestic energy services. This has the potential to alleviate vulnerability to fuel poverty, but it could create new injustices unless the risks are preempted and actively mitigated. In this paper, we ask: In what ways can emerging low-carbon innovations at the household scale complement, and complicate, achieving energy justice objectives? Drawing from four empirical case studies in the United Kingdom, the paper highlights different risks that come from different types of innovation required to tackle different decarbonisation challenges. More specifically, it assesses four particular household innovations—energy service contracts, electric vehicles, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, and low carbon heating—selected for their fit with a typology of incremental vs. radical technology and modest vs. substantial changes in user practices. It shows how in each case, such innovations come with a collection of opportunities but also threats. In doing so, the paper seeks to unveil the “political economy” of low-carbon innovations, identifying particular tensions alongside who wins and who loses, as well as the scope and temporality of those consequences

The unfolding low-carbon transition in the UK electricity system

The paper explores three periods in the UK electricity consumption–production system since World War II. The first two involved the development of an increasingly centralized, integrated system that provided electricity to meet growing post-war demand. It saw two major changes in governance, first to nationalization, then to privatization and liberalization. The third period started at the turn of the Century, driven by increasing evidence of the impact of fossil fuels on the Earth’s climate. The paper focuses on the drivers of change, within the UK and externally, and how they affected governance, technology deployment, and industry structure. It draws on the multi-level perspective and the concepts of governance and technological branching points to inform the analysis of each period. It shows that there is a considerable distance to travel toward a truly sustainable electricity system

Business models to accelerate uptake of domestic heat efficiency and decarbonisation measures

Decarbonising the heating of existing residential buildings is a key sustainability challenge. Improving building thermal efficiency is a low regrets approach: reducing the capacity and cost of required new renewable sources and reducing fuel poverty. However, retrofitting energy efficient measures in the owner-occupier sector is difficult, facing challenges of low homeowner engagement, high costs and disruption. This dissertation applied case study methodology to consider how business model innovation can accelerate energy efficiency and decarbonisation retrofit implementation in an area of south Glasgow, UK. Using an established conceptual framework of retrofit business models, this research applied an exploratory case study approach to examine drivers and barriers to retrofit in a specific physical and social context. Findings were synthesised in an outline business model suitable to the case study area. Semi-structured interviews with professionals were used to strengthen the transferability of conclusions. Current homeowner decision making was found to be focussed on cost and payback. The potential value of improved comfort may be underestimated by homeowners, especially by occupants of traditional constructions. Coronavirus ‘work from home’ policies have changed younger homeowner attitudes towards home heating improvements. Homeowners indicate interest in advanced, independent and personalised energy assessment. Previous research into the importance of interpersonal trust was reinforced with the discovery of an online social media group with a strong local influence on tradesperson selection. An innovative business model is proposed in response to the case study findings. Policy recommendations are put forward, with particular relevance to emergent minimum energy efficiency standards for the owner-occupier sector. Further research needs are identified

England’s Food Policy Response to Covid : Review of policy issues and intervention

This report was produced as part of a project on England's food policy and food security, funded through Research England’s Quality-related Research Strategic Priorities Fund at the University of Hertfordshire. The aim of the project is to analyse England's food policy response to the Covid-19 pandemic, to gain insights into the current state of its food policy processes and operations. A particular focus is the coordination of national food policy approaches, and their implications for food policy and food security going forward. This report presents a review of food-related issues and interventions related to the Covid-19 pandemic. An accompanying journal paper focuses on the role of coordination in the response. The report has two main parts, the first presents issues and interventions, using the different segments of the supply chain as an organising framework. Part II presents a timeline of interventions between March-September 2020, with a primary focus on government policy interventions

We'll always have Paris

Many were rightly sceptical of the Paris Agreement’s choreographed performance of success, given its reliance on theoretical carbon trading, fantastical Negative Emission Technologies (NETs), and voluntary national ‘contributions’. But was COP21 the high-water mark of climate co-operation? Can COP26 rekindle the internationalist spirit required to keep even the idea of a globally co-ordinated effort alive, in the face of resurgent nationalism and the proliferation of apparently more immediate crises? This article explores the chances of COP26 reinvigorating international co-operation, and with it the flagging credibility of the whole Paris process. It focuses in particular on the Paris Agreement’s controversial Article 6 rules on voluntary carbon trading, and the urgent need to prevent emissions traded across international borders from counting towards Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

Influence of evaporative cooling by urban forests on cooling demand in cities

Trees provide important ecosystem services to urban human society. Their absence can lead to more pronounced environmental and social consequences, for example the urban heat island effect. Evapotranspiration (Et) from trees reduces air temperature in the urban microclimate by converting sensible heat to latent heat. Quantification and valuation of the ecosystem services provided by urban trees is important for improving cost-benefit evaluations in support of protecting tree planting and maintenance budgets and, thus, for building climate change resilience into cities. Inclusion of Et cooling could improve ecosystem service valuation models by producing a more complete picture of the benefits that urban trees provide to society. This study explores two approaches for evaluating climate regulation as an ecosystem service of urban trees. Firstly, an enthalpy-based approach was adopted to valuate latent heat of evaporation from tree transpiration (in three case study urban forests) by equating it to an equivalent service from an active direct evaporative cooling system. Secondly, energy savings to air-conditioned buildings was modelled using TRNSYS and TRNFLOW simulation programs with and without air precooled and humidified by urban trees. Trees are shown to provide substantial urban cooling with an annual valuation of £84 m estimated using the enthalpy-based approach, or ranging from £2.1 m to £22 m using TRNSYS and TRNFLOW dynamic simulation programs; both for inner London case study. The latter savings arose from a modelled 1.28 – 13.4% reduction in air-conditioning unit energy consumption. Challenges around assumptions of homogeneity in both built form and urban forest canopy effects are discussed. The case study examples highlighted differences in Et cooling between tree species, with Castanea sativa, Prunus avium, Quercus petraea, Platanus hybrida and Fagus sylvatica typically providing more Et cooling than any of the other tree species commonly found in urban forests. The research highlighted a shortage of published Et data, particularly for urban environments