Emergence of District-Heating Networks; Barriers and Enablers in the Development Process

Infrastructure provision business models that promise resource efficiencies and additional benefits, such as job creation, community cohesion and crime reduction exist at sub-national scales. These local business models, however, exist only as isolated cases of good practice and their expansion and wider adoption has been limited in the context of many centralised systems that are currently the norm. In this contribution, we present a conceptual agent based model for analysing the potential for different actors to implement local infrastructure provision business models. The model is based on agents’ ability to overcome barriers that occur throughout the development (i.e. feasibility, business case, procurement, and construction), and operation and maintenance of alternative business models. This presents a novel approach insofar as previous models have concentrated on the acceptance of alternative value provision models rather than the emergence of underlying business models. We implement the model for the case study of district heating networks in the UK, which have the potential to significantly contribute to carbon emission reductions, but remain under-developed compared with other European countries

Business model innovation in electricity supply markets: The role of complex value in the United Kingdom

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

Substantiating Energy Justice: Creating a Space to Understand Energy Dilemmas

This paper explores the relationships between the moral philosophical foundations and strategic goals of two conceptions of energy justice: the “triumvirate conception” and the “principled approach”. We explore the extent to which the goals of these approaches align with their core aims and strategies. Having initially been developed to capture and reflect the values of activist-led environmental justice movements, we find that the triumvirate approach’s adoption of a trivalent conception of justice currently lies in tension with its overarching top-down approach. We note that the principled approach does not face the same tensions as the triumvirate conception of energy justice, but would benefit from illustrating the consequences of framing the same energy dilemma with conflicting moral theories. Aiming to ameliorate these limitations and further develop conceptions of energy justice, we outline a case study of hydro power in Hirakud, India and propose a framework which illustrates how using differing theories of justice to conceptualise the same energy dilemmas can result in substantially different normative framings and guidance. We illustrate how this framework, combined with a pluralistic appeal to moral theory, can enable both approaches to draw on a wider range of moral theory to assess energy dilemmas. This in turn provides a broader socio-political backdrop in which to view energy dilemmas. We outline how this backdrop contributes to the creation of a space in which the grievances of those who suffer in relation to energy systems can be heard and better understood

Closing the low-carbon material loop using a dynamic whole system approach

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

Supporting decision making for resilient net-zero infrastructure

In this policy brief, we introduce a suite of technologies which use underground assets to store heat and energy, or provide a low carbon means of energy generation. These present regional authorities with an opportunity for low carbon economic regeneration which is sympathetic to local industrial heritage

Municipal energy companies in the UK: Motivations and barriers

Municipal energy companies have the potential to contribute to low-carbon transition but could also deliver a wider range of benefits, such as fuel poverty reduction and economic growth. There are myriad ways that municipalities could engage in energy provision, however, local authorities face challenges related to matching their motivations to appropriate business models which are exacerbated by unsupportive policy and regulation. More effective decision support tools are required, in addition to changes in policy and regulation, to exploit the potential social and environmental benefits offered by municipal energy companies. An interdisciplinary approach is needed to take this initial work forward to explore business models that match actor motivations and a more complex definition of value

Tensions, capabilities, and justice in climate change mitigation of fossil fuels

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

Decision making under deep uncertainties: A review of the applicability of methods in practice

Deep uncertainties like environmental and socio-economic changes create challenges to decision making. Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty (DMDU) methods are recognised approaches to navigate deep uncertainties and support robust and adaptable decisions. However, their ability to fully reflect the context in which these decisions are made has been criticised. This paper presents a synthesis across cases and methods to provide a holistic understanding of the application of DMDU methods to support long-term decision making. We carried out a structured literature review and analysed 37 infrastructure DMDU case studies. The analysis shows that DMDU methods are effective at developing plans to address a range of deep uncertainties and in some cases, reflecting the institutional context of the decision. However, they largely overlook the organisational and individual contexts in which decision making happens. We argue that the use of existing DMDU methods in practice should start with a better understanding of the institutional, organisational and individual contexts. We then suggest modifications to the applications of DMDU methods, i.e. internalising the context at different stages of the decision-making process and developing a decision typology to signpost decision makers to the best approach for a specific context