Moving towards Energy Self-Sufficiency Based on Renewables: Comparative Case Studies on the Emergence of Regional Processes of Socio-Technical Change in Germany
Open Access
- 27 March 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Sustainability
- Vol. 4 (4), 491-530
- https://doi.org/10.3390/su4040491
Abstract
The change of conventional energy systems to a system mainly based on renewable energies is occurring in many parts of the world. A processual analysis of three case studies from regions in Germany that are moving towards renewable energy self-sufficiency were conducted in order to better understand this process of socio-technical change. This paper scrutinizes the role of actors and their activities, which are driving the change of the local energy system. Three discrete distinguishable phases of this change were found: pioneer phase, pivotal network phase, and extended network and emerging market dynamic phase. Each phase can be characterized by the type of actor, their specific activities, artifacts involved, and their underlying motives. We suggest using the phase model as a heuristic instrument to identify the elements which shape socio-technical change.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Energy autarky: A conceptual framework for sustainable regional developmentEnergy Policy, 2011
- Transforming the energy system: the role of institutions, interests and ideasTechnology Analysis & Strategic Management, 2010
- A complex systems approach to planning, optimization and decision making for energy networksEnergy Policy, 2008
- How to transform local energy systems towards bioenergy? Three strategy models for transformationEnergy Policy, 2007
- Caution! Transitions Ahead: Politics, Practice, and Sustainable Transition ManagementEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 2007
- Narratives of Change: Discourse, Technology and OrganizationOrganization, 2003
- More evolution than revolution: transition management in public policyForesight, 2001
- On the nature, function and composition of technological systemsJournal of Evolutionary Economics, 1991
- Institutional Ecology, `Translations' and Boundary Objects: Amateurs and Professionals in Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907-39Social Studies of Science, 1989
- Factors affecting the diffusion of technologyPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,1976