The centre cannot (always) hold:Examining pathways towards energy system de-centralisation

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this record'Energy decentralisation' means many things to many people. Among the confusion of definitions and practices that may be characterised as decentralisation, three broad causal narratives are commonly (implicitly or explicitly) invoked. These narratives imply that the process of decentralisation: i) will result in appropriate changes to rules and institutions, ii) will be more democratic and iii) is directly and causally linked to energy system decarbonisation. The principal aim of this paper is to critically examine these narratives. By conceptualising energy decentralisation as a distinct class of sociotechnical transition pathway, we present a comparative analysis of energy decentralisation in Cornwall, South West UK, the French island of Ushant and the National Electricity Market in Australia. We show that, while energy decentralisation is often strongly correlated with institutional change, increasing citizen agency in the energy system, and enhanced environmental performance, these trends cannot be assumed as given. Indeed, some decentralisation pathways may entrench incumbent actors' interests or block rapid decarbonisation. In particular, we show how institutional context is a key determinant of the link between energy decentralisation and normative goals such as democratisation and decarbonisation. While institutional theory suggests that changes in rules and institutions are often incremental and path-dependent, the dense legal and regulatory arrangements that develop around the electricity sector seem particularly resistant to adaptive change. Consequently, policymakers seeking to pursue normative goals such as democratisation or decarbonisation through energy decentralisation need to look beyond technology towards the rules, norms and laws that constitute the energy governance system.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)European Structural and Investment FundINTERREG V FC

Meeting goals of sustainability policy: CO2 emission reduction, cost-effectiveness and societal acceptance. An analysis of the proposal to phase-out coal in the Netherlands

The mitigation of global climate change renders effective policy indispensable. In this paper we evaluate a policy drafted in the Netherlands to close all its remaining coal-fired plants by 2030, which is well before the end of their technical and economic life spans. This plan is part of a package to reduce CO2 emissions with 25% by 2020 and 49% by 2030 in comparison to 1990. Under Dutch policy, all measures taken must meet three goals: CO2 emission reduction, cost-effectiveness and societal support. We will show that existing EU legal frameworks limit the effectiveness of the closure, because they allow for carbon leakage and lack a coordinated European strategy on the coal phase out, even though several EU member states have formulated similar plans. There is also no definitive answer as to whether the coal phase out is cost-effective. Dutch government will have to decide what the parameters of ‘cost-effective’ are. So far, the plan enjoys societal support. It is up to the Dutch government to decide what balance between CO2 emissions, costs and societal support is best. For further action, we recommend an EU strategy on the coal-phase out, in order to coordinate and to prevent carbon leakages

Tackling self-absorption in luminescent solar concentrators with type-II colloidal quantum dots

Luminescent solar concentrators are low cost photovoltaic devices, which reduce the amount of necessary semiconductor material per unit area of a solar collector by means of concentration. The device is comprised a thin plastic plate in which luminescent species (fluorophores) have been incorporated. The fluorophores absorb the solar light and radiatively re-emit part of the energy. Total internal reflection traps most of the emitted light inside the plate and wave-guides it to a narrow side facet with a solar cell attached, where conversion into electricity occurs. The efficiency of such devices is as yet rather low, due to several loss mechanisms, of which self-absorption is of high importance. This work demonstrates that type-II semiconductor hetero-nanocrystals may offer a solution to the self-absorption problem in luminescent solar concentrators. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved