The Great Reconfiguration

This book is for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who want to understand the dynamics and governance of low-carbon transitions. It shows how UK electricity, heat, and mobility systems are being reconfigured and explains the varying speed, depth, and scope of change. Available as Open Access on Cambridge Core

Of emergence, diffusion and impact: a sociotechnical perspective on research and energy demand

From a sociotechnical perspective, improving energy efficiency and reducing energy demand are understood as social processes with complex interactions between multiple actors (firms, researchers, policymakers, consumers) who develop strategies, make investments, learn, open up new markets and develop new routines. A sociotechnical perspective views energy services as being provided through large-scale, capital-intensive and long-lived infrastructures that co-evolve with technologies, institutions, skills, knowledge and behaviours to create broader ‘sociotechnical systems’. This chapter develops a rationale for the sociotechnical approach, describes its general characteristics and identifies some core research debates. It elaborates upon three research themes – emergence, diffusion and impact – and identifies key issues and debates within each

Rage against the regime: niche-regime interactions in the societal embedding of plant-based milk

This paper engages with the debate on niche-regime interactions in sustainability transitions, using a study of plant-based milk and its struggles against the entrenched liquid dairy-milk regime, which has various sustainability problems. Plant-based milk is under-studied, so our empirical contribution consists of an exploration of its diffusion in the UK. We make three conceptual contributions. The first calls for a bidirectional analysis that addresses niche-oriented activities by incumbent actors, in addition to the outward-oriented activities by niche advocates presented in most studies of niche-regime interaction. The second contribution nuances Smith and Raven’s fit-and-conform and stretch-and-transform typology: using a societal embedding framework which distinguishes four environments, we suggest that hybrid patterns are possible in which innovations follow a ‘fit’ pattern in one environment but ‘stretch’ in another. The third contribution highlights the potential role of cultural meanings in galvanizing transitions by eroding positive associations that support the regime and stabilise consumer purchasing

Sociotechnical transitions for deep decarbonization

Rapid and deep reductions in greenhouse gas emission are needed to avoid dangerous climate change. This will necessitate low-carbon transitions across electricity, transport, heat, industrial, forestry, and agricultural systems. But despite recent rapid growth in renewable electricity generation, the rate of progress toward this wider goal of deep decarbonization remains slow. Moreover, many policy-oriented energy and climate researchers and models remain wedded to disciplinary approaches that focus on a single piece of the low-carbon transition puzzle, yet avoid many crucial real-world elements for accelerated transitions (1). We present a “sociotechnical” framework to address the multidimensionality of the deep decarbonization challenge and show how coevolutionary interactions between technologies and societal groups can accelerate low-carbon transitions

Global sustainability, innovation and governance dynamics of national smart electricity meter transitions

Smart electricity meters are a central feature of any future smart grid, and therefore represent a rapid and significant household energy transition, growing by our calculations from less than 23.5 million smart meters in 2010 to an estimated 729.1 million in 2019, a decadal growth rate of 3013%. What are the varying economic, governance, and energy and climate sustainability aspects associated with the diffusion of smart meters for electricity? What lessons can be learned from the ongoing rollouts of smart meters around the world? Based on an original dataset twice as comprehensive as the current state of the art, this study examines smart meter deployment across 41 national programs and 61 subnational programs that collectively target 1.49 billion installations involving 47 countries. In addition to rates of adoption and the relative influence of factors such as technology costs, we examine adoption requirements, modes of information provision, patterns of incumbency and management, behavioral changes and energy savings, emissions reductions, policies, and links to other low-carbon transitions such as energy efficiency or renewable energy. We identify numerous weak spots in the literature, notably the lack of harmonized datasets as well as inconsistent scope and quality within national cost-benefit analyses of smart meter programs. Most smart meters have a lifetime of only 20 years, leading to future challenges concerning repair, care, and waste. National-scale programs (notably China) account for a far larger number of installations than subnational ones, and national scale programs also install smart meters more affordably, i.e. with lower general costs. Finally, the transformative effect of smart meters may be oversold, and we find that smart electricity meters are a technology that is complementary, rather than disruptive or transformative, one that largely does not challenge the dominant practices and roles of electricity suppliers, firms, or network operators.publishedVersio

Navigating implementation dilemmas in technology- forcing policies: A comparative analysis of accelerated smart meter diffusion in the Netherlands, UK, Norway, and Portugal

This paper addresses the implementation of technology-forcing policies in open-ended diffusion processes that involve companies and regulators as well as consumers and civil society actors. Mobilising insights from the societal embedding of technology framework and policy steering theories, we investigate two implementation dilemmas that relate to an overarching tension between flexibility (to enable technological learning and stakeholder engagement) and coordinated push (to focus actors and drive deployment): a) early or late formulation of initial targets, and b) technocratic or emergent-adaptive implementation styles. We investigate these dilemmas with four comparative case studies of smart electricity meters between 2000 to 2019, which diffused rapidly in the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal, but decelerated in the UK. We relate these differences to policy choices, and identify two patterns for successful implementation of technology-forcing policies: a) start with early targets and a technocratic style, but make adjustments if there are substantial protests or technical problems, and b) start with an emergent-adaptive style and formulate and enforce targets later, once technical and social stabilisation has occurred.publishedVersio

“Bigger than government”: exploring the social construction and contestation of net-zero industrial megaprojects in England

Industry is frequently framed as hard-to-decarbonize given its diversity of requirements, technologies, and supply chains, many of which are unique to particular sectors. Net zero commitments since 2019 have begun to challenge the carbon intensity of these various industries, but progress has been slow globally. Against this backdrop, the United Kingdom has emerged as a leader in industrial decarbonization efforts. Their approach is based on industrial clusters, which cut across engineering, spatial, and socio-political dimensions. Two of the largest of these clusters in England in terms of industrial emissions are the Humber and Merseyside. In this paper, drawn from a rich mixed methods original dataset involving expert interviews (N = 46 respondents), site visits (N = 20), a review of project documents and the academic literature, we explore ongoing efforts to decarbonize both the Humber and Merseyside through the lens of spatially expansive and technically complex megaprojects. Both have aggressive implementation plans in place for the deployment of net-zero infrastructure, with Zero Carbon Humber seeking billions in investment to build the country's first large-scale bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) plant alongside a carbon transport network and hydrogen production infrastructure, and HyNet seeking billions in investment to build green and blue hydrogen facilities along with a carbon storage network near Manchester and Liverpool. We draw from the social construction of technology (SCOT) literature to examine the relevant social groups, interpretive flexibility, and patterns of closure associated with Zero Carbon Humber and HyNet. We connect our findings to eight interpretive frames surrounding the collective projects, and make connections to problems, contestation, and closure

Innovation in environmental technologies in China: the case of Feida’s power plant pollution control equipment

Innovation is important for developing a strong brand. This chapter introduces a leading provider of environmental solutions for power plants in China. Feida is a company located in the Zhejiang province in China that develops products and technology to remove small particles from the exhausts of coal-fired power plants. The chapter describes the company’s evolution towards a leading company in environmental technology in China and analyzes the role of R&D and innovation in its brand development. The chapter further assesses how the nature of the company’s innovation is connected to the production and functional/user side of the innovation system and institutional environment in which it operates. Feida’s strategy is to expand internationally to foreign markets but it is facing significant challenges in that process

The politics of accelerating low-carbon transitions: towards a new research agenda

Meeting the climate change targets in the Paris Agreement implies a substantial and rapid acceleration of low-carbon transitions. Combining insights from political science, policy analysis and socio-technical transition studies, this paper addresses the politics of deliberate acceleration by taking stock of emerging examples, mobilizing relevant theoretical approaches, and articulating a new research agenda. Going beyond routine appeals for more ‘political will’, it organises ideas and examples under three themes: 1) the role of coalitions in supporting and hindering acceleration; 2) the role of feedbacks, through which policies may shape actor preferences which, in turn, create stronger policies; and 3) the role of broader contexts (political economies, institutions, cultural norms, and technical systems) in creating more (or less) favourable conditions for deliberate acceleration. We discuss the importance of each theme, briefly review previous research and articulate new research questions. Our concluding section discusses the current and potential future relationship between transitions theory and political science