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Pearson PJG, Watson J. The unfolding low-carbon transition in the UK electricity system. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2206235120. [PMID: 37956276 PMCID: PMC10666090 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2206235120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J. G. Pearson
- Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK & Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, CF10 3NB, UK
| | - Jim Watson
- Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London, WC1H ONN, UK
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Foulds C, Royston S, Berker T, Nakopoulou E, Bharucha ZP, Robison R, Abram S, Ančić B, Arapostathis S, Badescu G, Bull R, Cohen J, Dunlop T, Dunphy N, Dupont C, Fischer C, Gram-Hanssen K, Grandclément C, Heiskanen E, Labanca N, Jeliazkova M, Jörgens H, Keller M, Kern F, Lombardi P, Mourik R, Ornetzeder M, Pearson PJG, Rohracher H, Sahakian M, Sari R, Standal K, Živčič L. An agenda for future Social Sciences and Humanities research on energy efficiency: 100 priority research questions. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 2022; 9:223. [PMID: 35791377 PMCID: PMC9245879 DOI: 10.1057/s41599-022-01243-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Decades of techno-economic energy policymaking and research have meant evidence from the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH)-including critical reflections on what changing a society's relation to energy (efficiency) even means-have been underutilised. In particular, (i) the SSH have too often been sidelined and/or narrowly pigeonholed by policymakers, funders, and other decision-makers when driving research agendas, and (ii) the setting of SSH-focused research agendas has not historically embedded inclusive and deliberative processes. The aim of this paper is to address these gaps through the production of a research agenda outlining future SSH research priorities for energy efficiency. A Horizon Scanning exercise was run, which sought to identify 100 priority SSH questions for energy efficiency research. This exercise included 152 researchers with prior SSH expertise on energy efficiency, who together spanned 62 (sub-)disciplines of SSH, 23 countries, and a full range of career stages. The resultant questions were inductively clustered into seven themes as follows: (1) Citizenship, engagement and knowledge exchange in relation to energy efficiency; (2) Energy efficiency in relation to equity, justice, poverty and vulnerability; (3) Energy efficiency in relation to everyday life and practices of energy consumption and production; (4) Framing, defining and measuring energy efficiency; (5) Governance, policy and political issues around energy efficiency; (6) Roles of economic systems, supply chains and financial mechanisms in improving energy efficiency; and (7) The interactions, unintended consequences and rebound effects of energy efficiency interventions. Given the consistent centrality of energy efficiency in policy programmes, this paper highlights that well-developed SSH approaches are ready to be mobilised to contribute to the development, and/or to understand the implications, of energy efficiency measures and governance solutions. Implicitly, it also emphasises the heterogeneity of SSH policy evidence that can be produced. The agenda will be of use for both (1) those new to the energy-SSH field (including policyworkers), for learnings on the capabilities and capacities of energy-SSH, and (2) established energy-SSH researchers, for insights on the collectively held futures of energy-SSH research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Foulds
- Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sarah Royston
- Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Thomas Berker
- Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, Centre for Technology and Society, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Efi Nakopoulou
- Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | | | - Rosie Robison
- Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Simone Abram
- Department of Anthropology, and Durham Energy Institute, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Branko Ančić
- Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Stathis Arapostathis
- Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Gabriel Badescu
- Department of Political Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Richard Bull
- School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
| | - Jed Cohen
- Salt River Project Integrated System Planning & Support, Tempe, AZ USA
| | - Tessa Dunlop
- Unit H1 Knowledge for Policy: Concepts and Methods, European Commission, Directorate-General Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
| | - Niall Dunphy
- School of Engineering and Architecture, and Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Claire Dupont
- Department of Public Governance and Management, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Corinna Fischer
- Sustainable Products and Material Flows Division, Oeko-Institut e.V., Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Kirsten Gram-Hanssen
- Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Catherine Grandclément
- Research Group on Energy, Technology and Society, Électricité de France (EDF), Paris, France
| | - Eva Heiskanen
- Centre for Consumer Society Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Maria Jeliazkova
- Department of Public Policies and Social Changes, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Helge Jörgens
- Department of Political Science and Public Policy, Iscte—Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Margit Keller
- Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Florian Kern
- Ecological Economics and Environmental Policy, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Patrizia Lombardi
- Urban & Regional Inter-university Department, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | | | - Michael Ornetzeder
- Institute of Technology Assessment, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Peter J. G. Pearson
- Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London, UK
- School of Architecture, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Harald Rohracher
- Department of Thematic Studies—Technology and Social Change, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Marlyne Sahakian
- Department of Sociology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Ramazan Sari
- Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Karina Standal
- CICERO—Center for International Climate Research, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lidija Živčič
- Focus Association for Sustainable Development, Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Hutchinson EJ, Pearson PJG. An evaluation of the environmental and health effects of vehicle exhaust catalysts in the UK. Environ Health Perspect 2004; 112:132-41. [PMID: 14754566 PMCID: PMC1241821 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.6349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Since 1993, all new gasoline-engine automobiles in the United Kingdom have been supplied with three-way vehicle exhaust catalytic converters (VECs) containing platinum, palladium, and rhodium, to comply with European Commission Stage I limits on emissions of regulated pollutants: carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and oxides of nitrogen. We conducted a physical and economic evaluation of the environmental and health benefits from a reduction in emissions through this mandated environmental technology against the costs, with reference to urban areas in Great Britain. We made both an ex post assessment--based on available data to 1998--and an ex ante assessment--projected to 2005, the year when full penetration of VECs into the fleet is expected. Substantial health benefits in excess of the costs of VECs were indicated: By 1998 the estimated net societal health benefits were approximately 500 million British pounds, and by 2005 they were estimated to rise to as much as 2 billion British pounds. We also found through environmental surveys that although lead in road dust has fallen by 50% in urban areas, platinum accumulations near roads have risen significantly, up to 90-fold higher than natural background levels. This rapid accumulation of platinum suggests further monitoring is warranted, although as yet there is no evidence of adverse health effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma J Hutchinson
- Environmental Epidemiology Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
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