Transitions to Future Energy Systems: Learning from a Community Test Field

Siddharth Sareen, Douglas Baillie and Jürgen Kleinwächter
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Siddharth Sareen: Department of Geography & Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation, University of Bergen, 5007 Bergen, Norway
Douglas Baillie: Tamera Peace Research Centre, 7630-392 Monte do Cerro, Portugal
Jürgen Kleinwächter: Tamera Peace Research Centre, 7630-392 Monte do Cerro, Portugal

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: This article explores the challenges of transitioning towards future energy systems in a solar test field within the eco-community of Tamera, Portugal. We examine what findings can point to wider actionability and how. First, we consider how Tamera’s solar test field has addressed energy transition challenges. We unpack the nature of stability and change in achieving 60 percent energy autonomy; trace the linkages to spatiotemporal issues implicated in this sociotechnical process informed by keen commitment to energy justice; and dwell on the test field’s socioeconomic considerations at its interface with the Portuguese institutional framework and global connections. Second, we identify which findings can fertilise policy and action across European contexts. Considerations in gradually installing sub-100 kW solar capacity contrast starkly with the current proliferation of grid-scale solar in southern Portugal, raising questions about the actionability of knowledge on sociotechnical transitions. We co-generate ideas on how such contextualised epistemological advances can aid our understanding of societal energy transitions. The article encourages socially informed, integrated policy pathways. It speaks to building epistemological complementarities between applied researchers and practicing agents; problematises linking across scale between a community and institutionalising powers; and calls for actionable efforts that integrate systems thinking and power dynamics towards transformation.

Keywords: community energy; sociotechnical transition; Portugal; solar power; actionable knowledge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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