Sustainable Energy Transitions and Regional Growth Paths in the North Sea Basin: A Comparative analysis of North East Scotland and Southern Denmark

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Renewable energy technologies have become a central componentof national and global policy frameworks, heralded as a key solutionto the global climate crisis and as a source of green growth. Yet there is comparatively little research on the economic geographiesassociated with the transition to renewable energy, and their role inthe development of novel regional growth paths. This projectcontributes to growing debates within evolutionary economicgeography (EEG) and sustainable transitions research (STR) onprocesses of local and regional path creation and regional economicbranching within the context of sustainable energy transitions. It willinvestigate three RQs via a conceptually-engaged case-studyanalysis of the regional growth paths of North East Scotland andSouthern Denmark: (1) how national, supra-national and regionalpolicy and institutional frameworks have enabled and constrainedenergy transition processes within the two regions; (2) how regionalenergy firms and organisations are fostering energy transitions andcreating new growth paths; and (3) how the two regions are situatedin emerging energy production networks in the North Sea basin.This project is supported by a collaborative partner - Port Esbjerg -and will be researched through a combination of questionnaires,semi-structured interviews, and documentary analysis. Thesemethods will be grounded in a critical realist framework thatemphasises the importance of spatial differentiation and historicalcontingency. Outputs of this study will contribute to EEG and STRenergy transition research and increasing green growth policyarchitecture in the UK and Denmark.