IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v105y2017icp677-691.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

New frontiers and conceptual frameworks for energy justice

Author

Listed:
  • Sovacool, Benjamin K.
  • Burke, Matthew
  • Baker, Lucy
  • Kotikalapudi, Chaitanya Kumar
  • Wlokas, Holle

Abstract

This article explores how concepts from justice and ethics can inform energy decision-making and highlight the moral and equity dimensions of energy production and use. It defines “energy justice” as a global energy system that fairly distributes both the benefits and burdens of energy services, and one that contributes to more representative and inclusive energy decision-making. The primary contribution of the article is its focus on six new frontiers of future energy justice research. First is making the case for the involvement of non-Western justice theorists. Second is expanding beyond humans to look at the Rights of Nature or non-anthropocentric notions of justice. Third is focusing on cross-scalar issues of justice such as embodied emissions. Fourth is identifying business models and the co-benefits of justice. Fifth is better understanding the tradeoffs within energy justice principles. Sixth is exposing unjust discourses. In doing so, the article presents an agenda constituted by 30 research questions as well as an amended conceptual framework consisting of ten principles. The article argues in favor of “justice-aware” energy planning and policymaking, and it hopes that its (reconsidered) energy justice conceptual framework offers a critical tool to inform decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Burke, Matthew & Baker, Lucy & Kotikalapudi, Chaitanya Kumar & Wlokas, Holle, 2017. "New frontiers and conceptual frameworks for energy justice," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 677-691.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:105:y:2017:i:c:p:677-691
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.03.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421517301441
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.03.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Dworkin, Michael H., 2015. "Energy justice: Conceptual insights and practical applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 435-444.
    2. Hiteva, Ralitsa & Sovacool, Benjamin, 2017. "Harnessing social innovation for energy justice: A business model perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 631-639.
    3. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Scarpaci, Joseph, 2016. "Energy justice and the contested petroleum politics of stranded assets: Policy insights from the Yasuní-ITT Initiative in Ecuador," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 158-171.
    4. Benjamin K. Sovacool & Raphael J. Heffron & Darren McCauley & Andreas Goldthau, 2016. "Energy decisions reframed as justice and ethical concerns," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(5), pages 1-6, May.
    5. Beerten, Jef & Laes, Erik & Meskens, Gaston & D'haeseleer, William, 2009. "Greenhouse gas emissions in the nuclear life cycle: A balanced appraisal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5056-5068, December.
    6. Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2017. "Contestation, contingency, and justice in the Nordic low-carbon energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 569-582.
    7. Peters, Glen P., 2008. "From production-based to consumption-based national emission inventories," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 13-23, March.
    8. Joseph L. Scarpaci & Benjamin K. Sovacool & Ronnie Ballantyne, 2016. "A Critical Review of the Costs of Advertising: a Transformative Consumer Research Perspective," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 119-140, June.
    9. Heffron, Raphael J. & McCauley, Darren & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2015. "Resolving society's energy trilemma through the Energy Justice Metric," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 168-176.
    10. Benjamin K. Sovacool & Björn-Ola Linnér & Richard J. T. Klein, 2017. "Climate change adaptation and the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF): Qualitative insights from policy implementation in the Asia-Pacific," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 209-226, January.
    11. Sioshansi, Fereidoon P., 2011. "Can We Have Our Cake and Eat It Too? Energy and Environmental Sustainability," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 76-85, March.
    12. Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2015. "Fuel poverty, affordability, and energy justice in England: Policy insights from the Warm Front Program," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P1), pages 361-371.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Forman, Alister, 2017. "Energy justice at the end of the wire: Enacting community energy and equity in Wales," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 649-657.
    2. Shengqing Xu & Tao Wang, 2017. "On energy equity and China’s policy choices," Energy & Environment, , vol. 28(3), pages 288-301, May.
    3. Jayapalan, C. & Ganesh, L.S., 2019. "Environmentalists and their conflicts with Energy Justice – Concept of “Power-Environ” in the Athirappilly HEPP in Kerala," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 215-229.
    4. Healy, Noel & Barry, John, 2017. "Politicizing energy justice and energy system transitions: Fossil fuel divestment and a “just transition”," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 451-459.
    5. de Wildt, Tristan E. & Chappin, Emile J.L. & van de Kaa, Geerten & Herder, Paulien M., 2018. "A comprehensive approach to reviewing latent topics addressed by literature across multiple disciplines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 2111-2128.
    6. Jenkins, Kirsten & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & McCauley, Darren, 2018. "Humanizing sociotechnical transitions through energy justice: An ethical framework for global transformative change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 66-74.
    7. Heffron, Raphael J. & McCauley, Darren & de Rubens, Gerardo Zarazua, 2018. "Balancing the energy trilemma through the Energy Justice Metric," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 1191-1201.
    8. Merel Noorman & Brenda Espinosa Apráez & Saskia Lavrijssen, 2023. "AI and Energy Justice," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, February.
    9. Milchram, Christine & Hillerbrand, Rafaela & van de Kaa, Geerten & Doorn, Neelke & Künneke, Rolf, 2018. "Energy Justice and Smart Grid Systems: Evidence from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 1244-1259.
    10. Lacey-Barnacle, M. & Bird, C.M., 2018. "Intermediating energy justice? The role of intermediaries in the civic energy sector in a time of austerity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 71-81.
    11. Gordon, Joel A. & Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye & Nabavi, Seyed Ali, 2022. "Beyond the triangle of renewable energy acceptance: The five dimensions of domestic hydrogen acceptance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    12. Malinauskaite, J. & Jouhara, H., 2019. "The trilemma of waste-to-energy: A multi-purpose solution," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 636-645.
    13. Rasch, Elisabet Dueholm & Köhne, Michiel, 2017. "Practices and imaginations of energy justice in transition. A case study of the Noordoostpolder, the Netherlands," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 607-614.
    14. Dong, Kangyin & Yang, Senmiao & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Xiucheng, 2023. "Revisiting energy justice: Is renewable energy technology innovation a tool for realizing a just energy system?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    15. Lim, Zhen-Wen & Goh, Kim-Leng, 2019. "Natural gas industry transformation in Peninsular Malaysia: The journey towards a liberalised market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 197-211.
    16. Lee, Heerae & Shon, Huijoo, 2024. "Spatial and temporal patterns of energy aid and poverty in four African countries: Focusing on distributive and recognition justice," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    17. Castán Broto, Vanesa & Baptista, Idalina & Kirshner, Joshua & Smith, Shaun & Neves Alves, Susana, 2018. "Energy justice and sustainability transitions in Mozambique," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 645-655.
    18. Park, Seona & Yun, Sun-Jin & Cho, Kongjang, 2024. "Energy justice: Lessons from offshore wind farm siting conflicts in South Korea," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    19. Dillman, K.J. & Heinonen, J., 2022. "A ‘just’ hydrogen economy: A normative energy justice assessment of the hydrogen economy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    20. McCauley, Darren & Brown, Antje & Rehner, Robert & Heffron, Raphael & van de Graaff, Shashi, 2018. "Energy justice and policy change: An historical political analysis of the German nuclear phase-out," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 317-323.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:105:y:2017:i:c:p:677-691. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.