How Governance and Disasters Shape Renewable Energy Transitions: The Case of Japanese Mega‐Solar

Timothy Fraser

Social Science Quarterly, 2019, vol. 100, issue 3, 975-990

Abstract: Objectives This mixed‐methods study examines whether governance and disasters affect towns that host more renewable power plants, focusing on solar facilities in Japan after the 3/11 disaster. Methods I tested the effects of various factors on multiple sizes of feed‐in tariff certified solar power plants with negative binomial models. I confirmed those effects through process tracing using 14 interviews with local stakeholders from two prefectural case studies. Results Most prefectures boost solar power plant siting, especially for small plants 10–499 kilowatts (kW) in size. However, towns more damaged by disaster host less 10–499 kW plants because disasters create land‐use problems for solar. Conclusion When prefectures share information about renewable resources with local residents, they can compete more evenly with extraprefectural companies. However, disaster areas face extra governance challenges when introducing solar. Good subnational governance is vital to creating a more equitable, locally engaged renewable energy transition.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12603

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:socsci:v:100:y:2019:i:3:p:975-990

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0038-4941

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science Quarterly is currently edited by Robert L. Lineberry

More articles in Social Science Quarterly from Southwestern Social Science Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().