Projects

I was seconded to NESC as a visiting researcher from June to September 2020. My project explored current energy policy priorities for two countries within the uncertainty of Covid-19. This is the resulting research paper titled ‘Energy transition pathways and the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of the ‘green recovery’ responses in Denmark and Ireland’. Read the report here: https://www.nesc.ie/publications/energy-transition-pathways-and-the-covid-19-pandemic-an-analysis-of-the-green-recovery-responses-in-denmark-and-ireland/

Abstract: This research examines the case of wind energy technology development in Denmark and investigates the embeddedness of ideas related to technological innovation. It is argued that the logic of the ‘neoliberal marketplace for ideas’, based on the structural imperative for market-competitiveness, innovation, and growth, has driven the size and cost of turbine technology upwards, thus excluding communities from participating in the energy transition. We investigate the de-politicisation of technology and its relationship to the concepts of social acceptance, trust, and participation. We posit that the focus on innovation has served to disaffect local communities and reduce trust, thus contributing to widespread opposition seen in numerous countries. Finally, we examine alternatives including the co-production of science and the application to locally appropriate energy technologies.

Abstract: Understanding the dynamics of energy system evolution and its implications for low-carbon transitions is a significant challenge. The concept of path dependency has been used to describe how social, economic, political, and technical factors influence the process of energy system evolution, as well as to explain the difficulty of transitioning the energy system towards more sustainable outcomes. This paper employs a systematic review method to examine the usage of path dependency in relation to sustainable energy transitions. Academic publications (n = 121) were sampled from a variety of databases and reviewed, finding that the usage of path dependency is inconsistent across the literature and conditioned by the disciplinary backgrounds of the authors and publications. The various conceptualisations are summarised, and a typology is presented with the goal of enabling greater clarity within the literature.