Giotitsas, C, Nardelli, PHJ, Williamson, S et al. (3 more authors) (2022) Energy governance as a commons: Engineering alternative socio-technical configurations. Energy Research and Social Science, 84. 102354. ISSN 2214-6296
Abstract
Transitioning into a sustainable energy system is becoming ever more pressing as the reality of an anthropogenic ecological crisis becomes difficult to ignore. Due to the complexity of the matter, proposed solutions often address the symptoms of the current socioeconomic configuration rather than its core. To conceptualise possible future energy systems, this Perspective focuses on the disconnect between science and technology and engineering studies. On the one hand, this disconnect leads to social science research that passively critiques rather than contributes to tackling societal issues in practice. On the other, it produces technical work limited by the incumbent conceptualisations of economic activity and organisational configurations around production without capturing the broader social and political dynamics. We thus propose a schema for bridging this divide that uses the “commons” as an umbrella concept. We apply this framework on the hardware aspect of a conceptual energy system, which builds on networked microgrids powered by open-source, lower cost, adaptable, socially responsible and sustainable technology. This Perspective is a call to engineers and social scientists alike to form genuine transdisciplinary collaborations for developing radical alternatives to the energy conundrum.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Commons; Energy politics; Collaboration; Post-growth; Energy internet; Peer-to-peer |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Computing (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 16 Dec 2021 12:20 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:50 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102354 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:181237 |