ecological modernisation and renewables
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Ecological Modernisation and renewables. David Toke, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Policy, University of Birmingham. Electricity regime – niche market?. Ecological modernisation. Mainstream technology-market focus (Mol, Huber, Janicke etc) - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Ecological Modernisation and renewables
David Toke, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Policy, University of
Birmingham
Electricity regime – niche market?
Ecological modernisation
• Mainstream technology-market focus (Mol, Huber, Janicke etc)
• Critical social movement deliberative focus (Hajer, Christoff)
social movement activity in Renewable Energy
• Idealism as an initial substitute for economic rationality (bridge to EM)
• Cosmology, technology, organisation (Jamison)
Cosmology
German Biogas Association http://www.biogas.org/
Danish ‘bricolage’ (Karnoe)
• Energy crisis, anti-nuclear ideals
• Danish rural co-op tradition
• Sharing knowledge for common good
Marine Current Turbines
Intermediate technology (Schumacher)
Power from below
• ‘co-evolution’ of technology (Geels 2004)
• Uses as renewable energy producers
Pelamis Wave Powerhttp://www.pelamiswave.com/galleryimages.php
Explanations for outcomes
Ross (1997)
Watt (1998)
Winskel (2007)
Conventional industry
• Industrial based design
• Maximised economic return
• Patent based knowledge protection
1990 German Solar p.v.
1975 Danish Wind power
2008 UK Wave power
2008 UK Tidal stream power
Physical terrain Land Land sea sea
Degree of popular access for deployment
Very high Moderate/high Negligible Negligible
Status of existing model
Existing prototype
Existing prototype
No pre-existing model
Partially pre-existing model
Social/political landscape
High support High support High support High support
Electricity industry support
Low support Low support Recent moderate support
(formerly low support)
Recent moderate support
(formerly low support)
Technological frame
High science Popular/craft High science initially Intermediate Technology
Implications for policy
• R&D support for in-situ machines
• Regime access with initial generous support
• Start small, evolve bigger (Schumpeter)
• ‘Bottom up’/non-regime actors are very important
Implications for theory
• EM involves social movements in developing technology (van der Poel)
• Idealism as a institution
• Importance of users as generators
• EM has stages of development
Renewable as mainstream
• ‘We need to bring about a revolution in the way energy is produced …..Imagine you are pin-striped revolutionaries in the spirit of Che Guevara on the Sierra Madre’
• Mike O’Brien, Minister for Energy 29/03/09