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While some see carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) as crucial for cost-effective decarbonization, it faces opposition based on air pollution and equity concerns. To understand this cost–air pollution trade-off, we simulate the potential impacts of allowing CCUS deployment in the US power sector under plausible climate policies. We show that the existence of this trade-off critically depends on the underlying policy, which affects the type of generation CCUS could displace: under a policy that incentivizes coal generation, CCUS might improve health outcomes and reduce costs. When we disaggregate our results, we find that the air pollution (PM2.5) effects of allowing CCUS, positive or negative, are largest for Black and low-income populations. We show that allowing CCUS can yield energy-cost savings, particularly benefiting lower-income communities. Our sensitivity analyses highlight the effects of uncertainties on costs and benefits. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of broader distributional consequences of allowing CCUS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-wires alternatives and microgrid technologies are maturing and present great opportunities for electric utilities to increase the benefits they offer to their customers. They have the potential to decrease the cost of resolving traditional electrical system loading issues, contribute to carbon emissions reductions, and improve the electrical distribution system's resilience to extreme weather events. The authors of this manuscript present a review of the research on microgrids and their practical applications. This is leveraged with the past work of the authors of this manuscript and other authors to develop specific objectives for microgrids, practical criteria for engineers to consider when deploying microgrids, stochastic methods to optimize microgrid designs, and black start requirements. This guidance is then used for the design of actual networked microgrids being deployed with adaptive boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition from fossil fuels poses risks to communities and industries dependent on carbon-heavy work. This article calls for geographical scholarship to engage more fully with the experiences of those 'stranded communities' at risk of such change. It critically reviews examples of deindustrialisation and the decline of coal communities to demonstrate how energy transitions will animate new work and extend geographical understandings of economic restructuring. This paper closes with an agenda for new scholarship to proactively envision decarbonisation in ways that are anticipatory and preventative of future processes of labour restructuring and loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on deliberative democracy that contains a detailed discussion of its relationship to justice in Indigenous territory is limited. Through a case study of the controversy over a solar energy project on Kanaluvang tribal land in Taiwan, this article explores how issues of energy justice are constructed in multiple communication and deliberative sites of the governance system and the role of Indigenous activism and deliberation in addressing energy injustice. The research methods used are documentary analysis and in-depth interviews. The study presents a discursive narrative on the interconnected nature of the climate–energy–biodiversity nexus and how Indigenous activism creates deliberative spaces which reinforce Indigenous empowered space and oriented toward social learning and respect for tribal sovereignty. Indigenous activism and deliberation illuminate the emancipatory elements of Indigenous energy justice. It is crucial to connect multiple forms of tribal communication to the wider democratic system in the pursuit of energy justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fact that community ownership increases the social acceptability of renewable energy projects is well established, but there is a lack of empirical evidence to explain why this is the case. This study examines whether energy justice factors (fair involvement, fair distribution of benefits and perceived impacts from wind turbines) can help explain this relationship, whether these factors are interrelated, and whether different ownership structures (community, shared or private ownership) change these associations. Using a postal survey of residents in Scotland (n = 320), the study employs a novel method, Multigroup-Structural Equation Modelling, to investigate these questions. This modelling reveals that acceptance of these projects was influenced by factors of energy justice (i.e. fair involvement, fair benefits and perceived impacts), but the influence from each factor depended on the ownership structure. Specifically, those near the community-owned project prioritised involvement, those near the privately-owned valued fair benefits, and those near the shared ownership prioritised both. By examining the relationships amongst energy justice factors, the real-life complexity of people's responses to wind energy projects is revealed, whereby factors can have knock-on effects. Importantly, this study finds that the community and shared ownership projects fostered greater community acceptance than the privately-owned because they had more instances where fair involvement influenced other factors, which led to greater overall acceptance. Although community involvement may seem time-consuming, a more inclusive approach can prevent long-term issues caused by local opposition. Community ownership of renewable energy projects leads to greater acceptance by local residents, as long as the projects meet their expectations. Energy justice plays a crucial role in acceptance of onshore wind energy projects, but residents prioritise different aspects depending on ownership. Policymakers and developers should take into account the preferences and concerns of local residents when designing renewable projects, especially in terms of fair involvement and fair distribution of benefits. Better support for communities and developers is essential if the Scottish Government want shared ownership offered on all new projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the greenhouse gas (GHG) protocol for cities, GHGs are responsible for an estimated 75 per cent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. This represents a key opportunity to tackle climate change. With the year 2023 and, in particular, the month of July delivering record-breaking temperatures, this demonstrates a clear need to accelerate decarbonisation and, in this context, to reduce the carbon footprint of cities. Further, acting on urban development addresses a number of key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). Many cities, however, are struggling to break away from a reliance on carbon and some are economically dependent on it. This paper seeks to investigate, through an energy justice lens, some first considerations of how to secure just and sustainable urban regeneration. It posits that energy justice, and its five core principles, is a useful analytical tool for considering the justice and development concerns related to the transition to a low-carbon world. The cities examined in brief in this comparative study are Bordeaux in France, Venice in Italy, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and Bangkok in Thailand. The research posits that despite different trajectories, cities can play a leading role in ensuring justice and sustainability in our low-carbon world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Architecture can be very influential in enabling health and wellbeing in the residential built environment. In arid regions, health-supportive design would consider major environmental hazards, such as heat and dust, as well as social and cultural factors that influence household size and composition. Under current and projected conditions, the effects of climate change will increase, presenting opportunities and challenges to architects to demonstrate and deliver best practice in climate-appropriate and culturally appropriate housing design. This paper brings together a multidisciplinary team of researchers to identify the current and future needs for tropical semi-arid zone design with a focus on Indigenous communities in northern Central Australia. In a narrative review of the literature and exploratory fieldwork, current and projected impacts of climate change on housing, health, energy systems and behavioural practices are explored in a holistic way. Our findings demonstrate the growing awareness of climate-related issues for remote Indigenous housing but also the lack of place-based studies that might inform adaptation strategies. Overwhelmingly, there is limited understanding of local lived experiences that may be highly significant for developing resilience in a changing climate. Consideration of the beliefs, values and practices of Indigenous people will be integral to design solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] This study aimed to evaluate the spatiotemporal patterns and key influencing factors of the coupling and coordination between regional energy transformation and social equity, in order to provide evaluation methods and management policies for China’s regional energy justice and high-quality development of new energy in the new era. [Methods] By introducing the Energy Policy Sustainability Assessment Framework (EPSEF) and considering the terminal energy electrification rate, income distribution, and five key influencing factors related to energy justice, a comprehensive evaluation model was constructed to evaluate the spatial-temporal characteristics and key influencing factors of the coupling and coordination of regional terminal energy electrification and social equity in China from 2001 to 2020. [Results] (1) From 2001 to 2020, the increase of electrification rate of terminal energy showed a trend of the western region (+7.23%) > the eastern region (+5.51%) > the central region (+4.77%) > the northeastern region (-0.42%). The improvement of social equity showed a trend of the eastern region (+3.90) > the central region (+3.61) > the western region (+3.10) > the northeastern region (+2.20). (2) The coupling and coordination degrees have entered the adjustment stage in the 13th Five Year Plan period, and presented a shuttle shape of narrow at both ends and wide in the middle, with fewer medium-level coordination and mild imbalance provinces, and more barely coordinated and primary coordination provinces. (3) From 2001 to 2020, social participation and energy poverty had significantly improved in most regions, while labor employment, public health, and environmental pollution were the areas commonly had shortcomings. [Conclusion] China’s renewable energy development urgently needs to address the shortcomings of coordinated improvement of social equity in underdeveloped areas. Currently, there are fluctuations or “regionalized” imbalances in the coordinated development of energy transformation and social equity in some regions, which may be related to factors such as lagging behind in the coordinated construction of energy infrastructure, limited power market absorption capacity, shrinking of resource-based cities, and spillover effects of energy development. National policy intervention of China plays a significant role in promoting the universal service of electric energy. In the future, it is still necessary to expand and strengthen the collaborative improvement of key factors of energy justice such as employment, public health, and environmental pollution.

Architecture can be very influential in enabling health and wellbeing in the residential built environment. In arid regions, health-supportive design would consider major environmental hazards, such as heat and dust, as well as social and cultural factors that influence household size and composition. Under current and projected conditions, the effects of climate change will increase, presenting opportunities and challenges to architects to demonstrate and deliver best practice in climate-appropriate and culturally appropriate housing design. This paper brings together a multidisciplinary team of researchers to identify the current and future needs for tropical semi-arid zone design with a focus on Indigenous communities in northern Central Australia. In a narrative review of the literature and exploratory fieldwork, current and projected impacts of climate change on housing, health, energy systems and behavioural practices are explored in a holistic way. Our findings demonstrate the growing awareness of climate-related issues for remote Indigenous housing but also the lack of place-based studies that might inform adaptation strategies. Overwhelmingly, there is limited understanding of local lived experiences that may be highly significant for developing resilience in a changing climate. Consideration of the beliefs, values and practices of Indigenous people will be integral to design solutions.

Many problems at the intersection of nuclear technology, policy, and society can be thought of as wicked problems. Wicked problems--a formulation put forward in what is now a landmark paper by Rittel and Webber (design and planning scholars respectively)--are those that lack definitive formulations, resist durable resolution, do not have an exhaustively identifiable set of true or false solutions, and are often framed entirely differently by different entities experiencing the problem. Every attempt to solve a wicked problem is a solution attempt made in the real world and thus has consequences and implications that can potentially be far-reaching. This paper describes the underlying philosophy, design, and implementation of a course on "Nuclear Technology, Policy, and Society" taught in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences at the University of Michigan. The course explores some of nuclear technology's most pressing challenges (or its 'wicked problems'). Through this course students explore the origins of these problems--be they social or technical, they are offered tools--conceptual and methodological--to make sense of these problems, and guided through a semester-long exploration of how engineers can work towards their resolution, and to what degree these problems can be solved through institutional transformation and/or a transformation in our own practices and norms as a field. The underlying pedagogical philosophy, implementation, and response to the course are described here for other instructors who might wish to create a similar course, or for non-academic nuclear engineers, who might perhaps, in these pages, find a vocabulary for articulating and reflecting on the nature of these problems as encountered in their praxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green hydrogen provides one solution for a just transition to a low-carbon economy in the Global South. Absorption of green hydrogen into the energy mix will assist in decarbonising the hard-to-abate sectors, and it may even contribute to the economies of these countries when they transport to the Global North which has excess demand for it. However, this new pivot may also introduce new energy injustices, and this is what this paper focuses on. Through a comparative law analysis of three countries each from the Asia-Pacific (China, Vietnam and Thailand), South America (Brazil, Chile and Colombia) and Africa (South Africa, Kenya and Namibia), and by looking through the lens of procedural justice, this paper marks the first comprehensive examination of this concept for green hydrogen. It analyses the trajectory of these countries in terms of their introduction of green hydrogen into their renewable energy mix. Then there is an assessment of their successes and failures, the identification of gaps in policy, and the role of procedural justice in moving the green hydrogen legal frameworks forward is also examined. Finally, policy solutions to future-proof green hydrogen legal frameworks for the attention of policymakers are advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a new implementation framework based on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to facilitate energy justice. To accomplish this, it analyses how CSR constructs linked to Multinational Corporations (MNCs) operating within the energy and extractive industry could be used to realise energy justice. This conception is premised on the observation that MNCs possess significant economic influence, which enables them to spur socio-economic transformation. The article advances the conversation on energy justice, shifting the focus from conceptual examination of the concept to ways to enable its practical implementation via the lens of CSR. This proposal represents an active step towards bridging a void in the energy justice literature, as it offers practical solutions for addressing implementation gaps and ensuring the effective implementation of energy justice. The article develops a framework with four dimensions of energy justice – (1) distributive, (2) procedural, (3) recognition, and (4) restorative via CSR constructs of MNCs. It concludes that CSR is crucial for achieving energy justice and creating energy and extractive industries that are just and equitable for all stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For years, the conflict between the Mapuche people and energy developers has persisted in Chile's southern Biobío Region. Chile's future as a leader in renewable development hangs on the drafting of a new law, and workable solutions are needed now more than ever. The voters decisively rejected Chile's latest constitutional draft, which afforded Indigenous people in Chile unprecedented recognition at the price of a new governmental structure. In the midst of these political developments, Chile is shifting to develop more renewable energy. This shift will require the use of Mapuche ancestral lands and waterways, likely causing increased tensions between the Chilean government, renewable energy developers, and the Mapuche. This paper assesses the just transition approach in Chile alongside the drafting of a new constitution for the country, with particular consideration for restorative and recognition justice. We provide a comprehensive summary of Mapuche's historic and current claims to the ancestral lands in Chile and their resistance to hydroelectric power development projects along the Biobío River. Then, we review Chilean laws and court cases dealing with hydroelectric power development projects to pinpoint energy injustice. Finally, we use the energy justice framework to propose new energy laws for Chile that will encourage needed collaboration between the Chilean government, renewable energy developers, and the Mapuche. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, energy justice and energy transition are converging, particularly in Africa. This intersection is crucial for achieving sustainable development and addressing the challenges of climate change. The context of energy transitions in Africa necessitates a thorough examination of the continent's unique challenges and opportunities. Mainstreaming the justice dimension and adopting comprehensive policy frameworks that balance developmental concerns and market creation are crucial for achieving a clean energy transition and sustainable development in Africa. Despite the increasing research on energy justice, the emphasis has been predominantly on energy transitions in the Global North, leaving Global South contexts, including Africa, underrepresented. However, considering that fast-growing regions in Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia are expected to contribute significantly to future energy demand, this article investigates how energy justice principles can be used to guide and shape the energy transition in Africa. The goal is to ensure that the transition is inclusive, sustainable and beneficial for all segments of society. It highlights the need for comprehensive policy frameworks that balance developmental concerns and market creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of energy justice has been of much scholarly interest in applying justice principles to energy policy, energy production and systems, energy consumption, political economy of energy and climate change, among other areas. However, legal remedies for energy injustice have not been seriously examined; nor has the topic been considered from the perspective of the Global South. Therefore, this article seeks to examine legal remedies for energy injustice in the ECOWAS sub-region and the role that the Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice, otherwise known as ECOWAS Court, can play in granting these remedies. It finds that the concept of energy justice is an evolving one and that at its current level of evolution, the concept has somewhat incorporated the idea of distributional justice, recognition-based justice and procedural justice. Against the backdrop of these findings, the article argues that energy justice in a distributional, recognition-based and procedural sense can be couched in terms of human rights law under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and can be actualised before the ECOWAS Court. It concludes that energy justice, in its present state of evolution, can be substantially actualised in terms of human rights law before the ECOWAS Court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to propose a sustainable shelter design involving energy savings, less environmental impact, and rapid construction. The structural design of the shelter is based on 3D-printing technology. Sustainability assessments, including life cycle analysis (LCA), life cycle energy assessment (LCEA), and energy justice of the designed shelter, were conducted to prove the sustainable shelter design. The outcomes of this study for several scenarios will not only allow decision-makers to design permanent shelters with maximized utilization of limited resources but also help local communities strengthen their ability to recover with minimal outside assistance post-disaster. Furthermore, residents can utilize the sustainable shelter to maintain critical functions, including business continuity and local business in emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys the energy literature and systematically reviews the path to an inclusive and sustainable energy transition by exploring factors that drive the current energy transitions, countries with advanced energy transition programs, and the roles of energy literacy and justice in energy transition. Utilizing an exhaustive literature search from 2001 to 2023 via the Scopus database, the study identifies strong policy frameworks, technological advancements, economic incentives, and international collaborations as pivotal factors in successful energy transitions. Case studies from the Nordic countries, Germany, and Poland highlight diverse approaches and significant progress, revealing valuable lessons for global application. Although energy literacy emerges as crucial for public acceptance and participation, fostering informed decision-making and supportive behaviors toward renewable energy initiatives, energy justice ensures equitable access to the benefits of energy transitions, addressing socio-economic impacts on marginalized communities. The study identifies a scarcity of research that articulates and integrates energy literacy and justice concurrently within the purview of energy transition. The paper recommends the adoption, integration, and institutionalization of frameworks that concurrently propagate energy literacy and guide fair and equitable energy transitions. The frameworks should encourage active community involvement, promote community ownership of renewable energy projects, ensure transparency and inclusivity, implement measures for equitable economic benefits, protect livelihoods, address historical distrust, and leverage social media to promote energy literacy and justice. Finally, the continuous monitoring and evaluation of energy transition initiatives are crucial to ensure that they meet evolving societal needs and environmental goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy transitions are considered key to fuel green transitions. Wind energy is positioned as a cost-beneficial energy source, but also generates environmental conflicts and contestations of distribution of power and benefits. Scalar changes (rescaling) of political, social, and economic structures and processes have gained increased awareness. Less attention has been given to how energy policies influence the scaling of governance regimes, and how energy policies are shaped by changing perceptions and claims. The article explores how and why energy policies rescale governance regimes of wind energy in Norway, Denmark and Scotland. It examines the emergent and relational socio-spatial processes of energy policymaking as assemblages and analyses material and expressive forces influencing wind energy policies and governance scaling/rescaling. The authors find that perceptions of legitimate governance frameworks within energy policy constructions are destabilized/stabilized over time. Scalar shifts within governance frameworks are influenced by forces of market concerns, green growth and value creation, by energy security concerns, stability and industry development, and by concerns of societal welfare, independence, and provision. The authors conclude that divergent forces destabilizing/stabilizing energy policy assemblages and deterritorializing/reterritorializing scalar configurations are influenced by concerns of both energy efficiency and energy justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerating renewable energy deployment is imperative to address the climate crisis, yet projects commonly face community resistance and local cancellation. Accordingly, interest has risen in social impact assessments (SIAs) to evaluate social viability and strengthen management. However, mainstream approaches overlook upstream political economy dynamics that shape projects and drive opposition. Analyzing renewable developments in Mexico reveals how international negotiations and national policies produce rushed, large-scale projects in marginalized territories, igniting rural social struggles. While SIA practices can be enhanced, upstream policies constrain their scope to reshape misaligned projects and performance to address complex sociocultural contexts. This prompts questioning why vulnerable regions bear concentrated impacts and the need to explore alternative development pathways, despite SIAs implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy justice remains relatively under-researched outside of the Western context, especially in Asia. This paper addresses that gap by investigating the process of energy transition in Taiwan through the socio-spatial lens and institutional points of view. The paper underscores the urgency of recognizing and addressing the overlooked social injustices across different territories, advocating an integrated planning approach that incorporates a just energy transition perspective to reduce the uneven negative impacts of deploying renewable energies across communities and regional territories. Drawing on a case study of the Changhua region, the paper identifies conflicts arising from the rapid deployment of renewable energy, such as land use changes that displace farming activities and negatively affect rural stakeholders. The findings suggest the need to urgently address the gap between top–down goals in energy transition and bottom–up considerations to raise awareness and prevent injustices that risk deepening the existing socio-economic inequities. This paper also proposes a new framework for both new research and policy for (just) energy transition, incorporating distributional, procedural, and recognitional concerns together with a critical view on the cross-scale and cross-sectoral integration as part of the spatial planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Denmark’s legislative approach to managing local opposition to renewable energy projects. It examines how Denmark uniquely combines economic incentives and rights tailored to renewable energy to mitigate local opposition, through schemes based on hedonic pricing principles. The article explores local concerns over renewable energy installations, the impact of these installations on property values and the effectiveness of financial compensation in promoting local acceptance. This is examined within the framework of energy justice theory, assessing the distributive and procedural justice aspects of the Danish model. The study incorporates a legal-sociological perspective, using feedback from preliminary consultation rounds on renewable energy projects and case law to assess the consistency of the Danish scheme with the theoretical framework. The article also highlights the challenges and ambiguities in the assessment and compensation process under the Danish scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Climate change induced extreme weather events will increase in intensity and frequency, leading to longer and widespread electricity outages. As an example, Winter Storm Uri in Texas left over 4.5 million customers without power between 14 and 18 February 2021. The social justice consequences of these events remain an outstanding question, as outage data are, typically, only available at the county level, obscuring detailed experiences. We produce a first-of-its-kind unique spatially resolved dataset of interruptions using satellite data on nighttime lights to track blackouts at the census block group (CBG) level. Correlating this dataset with demographic data reveals that minority CBGs were 1.5–3 times more likely to suffer from interruptions compared to predominantly white CBGs, whereas income status was positively correlated with the likelihood of interruption. The presence of critical facilities—including police and fire stations, hospitals, and water treatment facilities—in a CBG reduced the chances of interruptions by around 16 % , a small difference that does not otherwise explain the disparity among communities. We suggest explanations, test a subset of them, and propose further work needed to explain what drives these disparities.

The energy ‘crisis’ in Switzerland during the winter of 2022–23 highlighted the need to integrate the idea of sufficiency into previously efficiency-focused discourses and policies. A mixed-methods approach was used to explore emerging sufficiency practices and energy justice. Qualitative interviews (n = 28) with a diverse range of households and building management companies (‘régies’) in Geneva, as well as a quantitative online survey, were undertaken in 2023. It was found that different measures and recommendations did lead to efforts to reduce energy consumption, but also revealed flaws as practices typically lacked an energy justice perspective. Important discrepancies occurred between low- and high-income groups, tenants and owners, inhabitants of houses and apartments. These included a misrecognition of some residents’ vulnerabilities, their limited agency and a lack of acknowledgment of differentiated responsibilities. This led to a negative impact on the implementation of sufficiency. Some residents were marginalised: feeling anxious, disregarded, powerless, belittled and hence excluded from collective sufficiency efforts. Policy relevance Policies and strategies for the implementation of energy sufficiency measures will not be effective unless they include energy justice issues. If sufficiency policies and strategies are to be effective, they must account for differing housing, tenure, socio-economic conditions, capabilities and tackle recognition-based injustices. Decision-making spaces and processes need to become more inclusive, particularly to represent more vulnerable people, include a broader range of the socio-economic population and account for differing responsibilities.