Transitioning to renewable energies: the role of local action in achieving energy justice

我认为，能源正义应该是每个人的权利，但英国当前的能源体系孕育了不公正。改变这种状况是至关重要的，为此做出贡献将是一种特权。我的多学科学术成就使我成为这个项目的理想人选。我在定性数据收集和分析、使用Excel和R进行探索性数据分析方面具有专业知识，并对建模原理和应用程序有一定的了解。能源正义是一个邪恶的问题，需要从地方到全球采取行动，涉及技术科学和社会政治问题。在一个地方/时间的行动会在其他地方产生后果，往往涉及权衡取舍，这就是为什么必须将能源供应和政策重新定义为道德问题(Soac ool等人，2017年)。我将采用多层次的观点，因为这既考虑到项目的多学科性质，又考虑到地方行动和进程与更广泛的背景相联系。这也将使我能够为重建能源供应/供应作出贡献，将其作为一种道德的社会关切。MLP方法将使我能够检查社区可再生项目运行的监管和政治环境。这种做法还将把这种监管环境与能源市场的复杂性联系起来。最后，它将使我能够研究社区可再生组织形式/程序以及赋予能源正义和可再生技术的文化意义。我的地理重点将是南海岸地区的社区能源组织，通过布莱顿大学与南部社区能源的合作伙伴关系。该项目的一个特别重点将是探索当地社区能源的共同利益是如何概念化的，并可以被量化(Soac ool等人，2017年)。Hall和Roelich(2016)明确指出，国家能源供应商不能也不愿意从更可持续的地方能源供应/供应中获取价值。他们还提出了如何在实现社会和环境目标的同时抓住这一价值的商业模式(Hall和Roelich，2016)。因此(遵循Geels等人，2016)，我将对社区能源业务结构在不同监管假设下创造和获取价值的潜力进行建模。接下来，我将使用MLP分析来查看某些低碳转型路径和相关社区能源结构的可行性。然后，我的目标是发现社区可再生能源行为者如何将能源正义和能源正义的共同利益概念化。同样重要的是，要记录这些参与者认为自己在获取价值的程度，以及改革可能如何提高他们获取价值的能力。然后，我会使用从后两个阶段获得的定性数据，在更现实的假设下重新运行该模型。这种方法将结合预期的、深思熟虑的和紧急的战略，更有效地处理该项目的总体复杂性(Geels等人，2016)。我的项目将有助于实现低碳过渡的实用性，一种公平和可实现的过渡。我的技能、知识和承诺使这个项目成为一个可行和有价值的项目，这将有助于弥合能源正义理论和成就之间的差距。

I believe energy justice should be every person's right, yet the current UK energy system incubates injustice. Changing this situation is critical, and to contribute to this would be a privilege. My multi-disciplinary academic achievements make me the ideal candidate for this project. I have expertise in qualitative data collection and analysis, exploratory data analysis using Excel and R, and an understanding of modelling principles and applications. Energy justice is a wicked problem demanding action from the local to the global level, involving techno-scientific, and socio-political issues. Action in one place/time has consequences elsewhere, often involving trade-offs, which is why energy provision and policy must be reframed as moral issues (Sovacool et al, 2017). I would adopt a multi-level perspective (MLP) approach as this would allow for both the multi-disciplinary nature of the project, and the connection of local action and processes to the wider context. This would also allow me to contribute to the reframing of energy provision/supply as an ethical societal concern. An MLP approach would enable me to examine the regulatory and political environment, in which community renewable projects operate. This approach would also connect this regulatory environment to the complexity of the energy markets. Finally, it would allow me to examine the community renewable organisational forms/processes and the cultural meanings given to energy justice and renewable technologies. My geographical focus would be on community energy organisations in the south coast region, through the University of Brighton's partnership with Community Energy South. A particular focus of this project would be to explore how the co-benefits of local community energy are conceptualised and can be quantified (Sovacool et al, 2017). Hall and Roelich (2016), make clear that national energy suppliers are unable and unwilling to capture value from more sustainable, local energy provision/supply. They also suggest how business models that capture this value, could do so while advancing social and environmental objectives (Hall and Roelich, 2016). Therefore (following Geels et al, 2016), I will model the potential of community energy business structures to create and capture value under different regulatory assumptions. Next, I will use the MLP analysis to view the feasibility of certain low-carbon transition pathways and the associated community energy structures. Then I would aim to discover how community renewable actors conceptualise energy justice and the co-benefits of energy justice. It would also be important to document how far these actors feel they are capturing value, and how reform might improve their ability to capture value. I would then use the qualitative data gained from the second two stages to re-run the model under more 'realistic' assumptions. This approach would combine intended, deliberate and emergent strategies, more effectively dealing with the overall complexity of this project (Geels et al, 2016).My project would contribute to the practicalities of a low-carbon transition, one that is fair and achievable. My skills, knowledge and commitment make this a feasible and worthwhile project, which will help bridge the gap between the theory and achievement of energy justice.