IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v53y2013icp331-340.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Geographies of energy transition: Space, place and the low-carbon economy

Author

Listed:
  • Bridge, Gavin
  • Bouzarovski, Stefan
  • Bradshaw, Michael
  • Eyre, Nick

Abstract

This paper makes a case for examining energy transition as a geographical process, involving the reconfiguration of current patterns and scales of economic and social activity. The paper draws on a seminar series on the ‘Geographies of Energy Transition: security, climate, governance' hosted by the authors between 2009 and 2011, which initiated a dialogue between energy studies and the discipline of human geography. Focussing on the UK Government's policy for a low carbon transition, the paper provides a conceptual language with which to describe and assess the geographical implications of a transition towards low carbon energy. Six concepts are introduced and explained: location, landscape, territoriality, spatial differentiation, scaling, and spatial embeddedness. Examples illustrate how the geographies of a future low-carbon economy are not yet determined and that a range of divergent – and contending – potential geographical futures are in play. More attention to the spaces and places that transition to a low-carbon economy will produce can help better understand what living in a low-carbon economy will be like. It also provides a way to help evaluate the choices and pathways available.

Suggested Citation

  • Bridge, Gavin & Bouzarovski, Stefan & Bradshaw, Michael & Eyre, Nick, 2013. "Geographies of energy transition: Space, place and the low-carbon economy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 331-340.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:53:y:2013:i:c:p:331-340
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.066
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421512009512
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.066?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. Gordon Walker & Sue Hunter & Patrick Devine-Wright & Bob Evans & Helen Fay, 2007. "Harnessing Community Energies: Explaining and Evaluating Community-Based Localism in Renewable Energy Policy in the UK," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 7(2), pages 64-82, May.
    2. Anderson, Kevin & Bows, Alice & Mander, Sarah, 2008. "From long-term targets to cumulative emission pathways: Reframing UK climate policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 3714-3722, October.
    3. Ian Bailey & Geoff A Wilson, 2009. "Theorising Transitional Pathways in Response to Climate Change: Technocentrism, Ecocentrism, and the Carbon Economy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(10), pages 2324-2341, October.
    4. Heather Lovell, 2007. "Exploring the Role of Materials in Policy Change: Innovation in Low-Energy Housing in the UK," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(10), pages 2500-2517, October.
    5. Roger Fouquet & Peter J. G. Pearson, 1998. "A Thousand Years of Energy Use in the United Kingdom," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 1-41.
    6. Correlje, Aad & van der Linde, Coby, 2006. "Energy supply security and geopolitics: A European perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 532-543, March.
    7. Verbong, Geert & Geels, Frank, 2007. "The ongoing energy transition: Lessons from a socio-technical, multi-level analysis of the Dutch electricity system (1960-2004)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 1025-1037, February.
    8. Beddington, John, 2008. "Managing energy in the built environment: Rethinking the system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4299-4300, December.
    9. Bouzarovski, Stefan & Petrova, Saska & Sarlamanov, Robert, 2012. "Energy poverty policies in the EU: A critical perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 76-82.
    10. World Bank, 2010. "World Development Report 2010," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 4387.
    11. Smith, Adrian & Voß, Jan-Peter & Grin, John, 2010. "Innovation studies and sustainability transitions: The allure of the multi-level perspective and its challenges," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 435-448, May.
    12. Upham, Paul & Tomei, Julia & Dendler, Leonie, 2011. "Governance and legitimacy aspects of the UK biofuel carbon and sustainability reporting system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2669-2678, May.
    13. Watson, Jim, 2004. "Co-provision in sustainable energy systems: the case of micro-generation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(17), pages 1981-1990, November.
    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. Adil, Ali M. & Ko, Yekang, 2016. "Socio-technical evolution of Decentralized Energy Systems: A critical review and implications for urban planning and policy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1025-1037.
    2. Li, Francis G.N. & Trutnevyte, Evelina & Strachan, Neil, 2015. "A review of socio-technical energy transition (STET) models," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 290-305.
    3. Moradi, Afsaneh & Vagnoni, Emidia, 2018. "A multi-level perspective analysis of urban mobility system dynamics: What are the future transition pathways?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 231-243.
    4. Farrelly, M.A. & Tawfik, S., 2020. "Engaging in disruption: A review of emerging microgrids in Victoria, Australia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    5. Pesch, Udo, 2015. "Tracing discursive space: Agency and change in sustainability transitions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 90(PB), pages 379-388.
    6. Schot, Johan & Kanger, Laur, 2018. "Deep transitions: Emergence, acceleration, stabilization and directionality," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 1045-1059.
    7. Coenen, Lars & Benneworth, Paul & Truffer, Bernhard, 2012. "Toward a spatial perspective on sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 968-979.
    8. Yuan, Jiahai & Xu, Yan & Hu, Zhaoguang, 2012. "Delivering power system transition in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 751-772.
    9. Yuan, Jiahai & Xu, Yan & Hu, Zhen & Yu, Zhongfu & Liu, Jiangyan & Hu, Zhaoguang & Xu, Ming, 2012. "Managing electric power system transition in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(8), pages 5660-5677.
    10. Sorrell, Steve, 2018. "Explaining sociotechnical transitions: A critical realist perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 1267-1282.
    11. Griet Juwet & Michael Ryckewaert, 2018. "Energy Transition in the Nebular City: Connecting Transition Thinking, Metabolism Studies, and Urban Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, March.
    12. van der Schoor, Tineke & Scholtens, Bert, 2015. "Power to the people: Local community initiatives and the transition to sustainable energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 666-675.
    13. Tran, Thuc Han & Egermann, Markus, 2022. "Land-use implications of energy transition pathways towards decarbonisation – Comparing the footprints of Vietnam, New Zealand and Finland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    14. Bossink, Bart, 2020. "Learning strategies in sustainable energy demonstration projects: What organizations learn from sustainable energy demonstrations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    15. Boon, Frank Pieter & Dieperink, Carel, 2014. "Local civil society based renewable energy organisations in the Netherlands: Exploring the factors that stimulate their emergence and development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 297-307.
    16. Mura, Matteo & Longo, Mariolina & Toschi, Laura & Zanni, Sara & Visani, Franco & Bianconcini, Silvia, 2021. "The role of geographical scales in sustainability transitions: An empirical investigation of the European industrial context," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    17. Yamaguchi, Yohei, 2019. "A practice-theory-based analysis of historical changes in household practices and energy demand: A case study from Japan," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 207-218.
    18. Sutherland, Lee-Ann & Peter, Sarah & Zagata, Lukas, 2015. "Conceptualising multi-regime interactions: The role of the agriculture sector in renewable energy transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1543-1554.
    19. Jonathan Rutherford & Olivier Coutard, 2014. "Urban Energy Transitions: Places, Processes and Politics of Socio-technical Change," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(7), pages 1353-1377, May.
    20. Rutter, Paul & Keirstead, James, 2012. "A brief history and the possible future of urban energy systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 72-80.

    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:53:y:2013:i:c:p:331-340. 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.