UNderstanding LOcal and Community Governance of Energy (UNLOC).

英国承诺到2050年将温室气体排放量减少80%，这需要能源转换和使用方式的系统性改变。许多人认为，完全依赖大规模集中式生产技术，与应对气候变化和能源安全这两大挑战所需的变革不相容。在减少能源需求、提高能源效率和部署微型和社区规模发电方面，需要在地方和社区一级采取行动。事实上，越来越多的趋势推动地方对二氧化碳排放、可再生能源目标和燃料贫困的问责，这正在推动地方政府层面的能源活动。与这些趋势同时出现的还有非国家行为体的活动，这些活动通常旨在挑战“主流”社会实践，并寻求解决正式治理结构的明显缺陷。有必要了解这些新兴和不断发展的非正式治理结构如何与正式结构相互作用（并影响）。该提案汇集了一个多学科团队来研究这些新的、更多样化的地方能源治理形式。该项目由两所英国顶尖大学（萨里大学和牛津大学）在能源研究、环境政策和可持续行为研究领域组成。伙伴关系扩展到关键的地方政府和非政府组织，他们将协助提供证据，以了解地方能源治理的趋势，以及它们如何受到不断变化的公众意识和政策的影响。该项目旨在展示基层组织、地方政府倡议和国家规模的活动如何相互作用，为公民积极参与减少能源需求和部署当地能源生产创造新的政治机会。该项目围绕三个工作包进行：首先，该工作将评估地方政府在实现其能源和低碳目标方面面临的机遇和制约因素。它将探讨地方当局参与能源背后的理由，以及由于国家政策和公众压力的演变，地方当局已经（或没有）发生的变化过程。这项工作的一部分将涉及探索地方能源治理与地方政府责任的其他领域（例如规划和运输）之间的关系，以及志愿部门和其他部门在多大程度上影响了地方当局所采取的道路。其次，根据现有文献和案例研究，该项目将利用政治学理论来绘制出不同行为体在地方能源治理中的作用、权力和相互作用。这将探讨国家（地方政府）和非国家（基层）行为者之间关系的演变性质，以及围绕特定能源问题形成某些类型“联盟”背后的动机。第三，该项目将在密切关注地方财政在支持新能源倡议方面的当前和潜在作用方面开辟新的研究领域。它将根据与能源活动的相关性、成本效益和支持弱势群体的设计灵活性等标准，对英国（以及国际上）此类融资计划的范围进行评估。这将包括审查国家驱动方案（例如暖锋和能源供应商义务）与地方财政之间的相互作用。我们将发表四份报告，这些报告将成为学术和能源从业者会议论文的基础；学术期刊文章；以及一系列针对地方和国家决策者的政策简报。还将举行最后一次研讨会，旨在为利益相关者提供研究的关键信息，包括地方政府决策者、可持续能源部门的志愿组织和融资提供者。

The UK commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 will require a systemic change in the way energy is converted and used. The exclusive reliance on large-scale centralised production technologies is seen by many as incompatible with the changes needed to meet the twin challenges of climate change and energy security. Action at local and community levels will be needed in energy demand reduction efforts, improvements in energy efficiency and deployment of micro- and community scale generation. Indeed, there is a growing trend to push for increased local accountability for CO2 emissions, renewable energy targets and fuel poverty, and this is driving energy activities at local government level. Alongside these trends are also activities by non-state actors, often aimed at challenging 'mainstream' social practices and seeking to address perceived failures of the formal governance structures. There is a need to understand how these emerging and evolving informal governance structures may interact with (& influence) formal structures. This proposal brings together a multidisciplinary team to research these new,more diverse forms of local energy governance. The project partnership consists of two leading UK universities (Surrey & Oxford) in the fields of energy research, environmental policy and sustainable behaviour studies. The partnership extends to key local government and non-governmental organisations who will assist in providing the evidence for understanding the trends in local energy governance and how they are influenced by changing public awareness and policy. The project aims to demonstrate how grassroots organizations, local government initiatives and national-scale activities interact to create new political opportunities for active citizen engagement in both energy demand reduction and deployment of local energy generation. The project is structured around 3 workpackages: Firstly, the work will evaluate the opportunities and constraints faced by local government in delivering their energy and low carbon targets. It will explore the rationale behind local authority involvement in energy, and the process of change that has (or not) taken place in local authorities as a result of evolving national policy and public pressure. Part of this exercise will involve exploring the relationship between local energy governance and other areas of local government responsibility (e.g. planning & transport), as well as the extent to which the voluntary sector and others have shaped the path taken by local authorities. Secondly, drawing from the existing literature and case studies, the project will use political science theory to map out the role, power and interactions of different actors in local energy governance. This will explore the evolving nature of the relationship between state (local government) and non-state (grassroots) actors, and the motivations behind the formation of certain types of 'coalitions' around specific energy issues. Thirdly, the project will break new research ground in looking closely at the current and potential role of local finance to support new energy initiatives. It will evaluate the range of such finance schemes in the UK (and internationally) against criteria such as relevance to energy activities, cost effectiveness and flexibility in design to support vulnerable groups. This will include examination of the interplay between nationally driven programmes (e.g. Warm Front and energy supplier obligations) and local finance. We will publish four reports which will form the basis for papers to conferences of academic & energy practitioners; academic journal articles; and a series of policy briefings for local and national policymakers. There will also be a final workshop aimed at providing key messages from the research for stakeholders, including local government decision makers, voluntary organisations in the sustainable energy sector and providers of finance.