Grand visions and pragmatic integration:Exploring the evolution of Europe’s electricity regime

In this paper we develop a socio-technical analysis of the European electricity system. We show that the relationship between high-level grand visions of an integrated European system and more pragmatic bottom-up processes of electricity system development have been a feature of the European regime for coordinating cross-border electricity flows since the 1920s. Following a period when radically different visions of a European system were proposed, the nation-state emerged as the key site of system building and constituted the core of the technological and institutional configuration. However, European grand visions persisted and this led to the creation of various forms of transnational collaboration and coordination. We discuss whether this inherited technological and institutional configuration is compatible with the contemporary desire for a European low-carbon transition and we emphasise the need for more detailed analysis of socio-technical regimes and their dynamics to inform policy and enrich transitions theory

Three-dimensional localization of ultracold atoms in an optical disordered potential

We report a study of three-dimensional (3D) localization of ultracold atoms suspended against gravity, and released in a 3D optical disordered potential with short correlation lengths in all directions. We observe density profiles composed of a steady localized part and a diffusive part. Our observations are compatible with the self-consistent theory of Anderson localization, taking into account the specific features of the experiment, and in particular the broad energy distribution of the atoms placed in the disordered potential. The localization we observe cannot be interpreted as trapping of particles with energy below the classical percolation threshold.Comment: published in Nature Physics; The present version is the initial manuscript (unchanged compared to version 1); The published version is available online at http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nphys2256.htm

'To Consolidate Peace'? The International Electro-Technical Community and the Grid for the United States of Europe

Why did engineers and policy-makers together argue for a european electricity network? this article shows, first, how ideas of european cooperation were conceived in both circles, and second, how the two came together in an alliance that brought the idea for european grid into the league of nations (lon) and international labour organization. Non-government organizations in the field of electricity acted as intermediary platforms, and close links between some engineers and politicians enabled a next step. It argues furthermore that such an alliance was made possible through a set of shared ideas, stressing technical networks as an extension of international politics, viewing ‘europe’ as an obvious unit of optimization, and relying on a ‘technical’ approach rather than political consultation

'An Experience Forgotten Today': Examining Two Rounds of European Electricity Liberalization

This paper deals with two phases of liberalization in the field of electricity. It does so by utilizing archival material and quantitative data, combining and contrasting it with work done by scholars of european integration. After an overview of interwar electricity discussions on international governance, it discusses the two post-world war ii phases. During the first a non-political organization informally arranged to lift interwar restrictions on international electricity flows, and turn it into a reliable operating system. The second phase brought a complete transformation of the existing regime, initiated by the european commission, turning electricity exchanges into trade flows