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Er is vooralsnog geen sprake van een energietransitie. Beleidsmakers praten bij voorkeur alleen over veranderingen in techniek, maar een transitie bestaat vooral uit een trans¬formatie van de structuur, dus van hoe iets is georganiseerd. De ‘transitie’ is voor-alsnog een beleidsclaim, en door beleidsmakers opgevat als tech¬nisch vraagstuk, maar moet gaan over structurele sociale veranderingen. In de enegievoorziening moeten we af van een eenvormig centralistisch netwerk met grootschalige opwek op specifieke locaties. Dat wordt steeds kwetsbaarder en het past niet bij de diversiteit en geografische spreiding van hernieuwbare bronnen. Die diversiteit kan niet centraal aangestuurd worden. De mogelijkheid van onderlinge levering, zon¬der tussenkomst van derden, peer-to-peer (P2P) is essentieel – maar in het system nu verboden – om bijvoorbeeld collectieve micronetten mogelijk te maken.

The current trend in our power supply system is to shift power generation towards much smaller energy conversion units: DGRS ‒ Distributed Generation using Renewable Sources. Traditional power plants are large centralised units, primarily fuelled by coal and oil, natural gas, nuclear fission and large hydro-power stations. These are deeply institutionalized socio-technical systems (STS), but the future perspective of this STS needs upgrading, as current systems are run by “big unwieldy corporate machines” whose change is “characterized by recalcitrance and torpor” (Bakke, 2016, p.xx). The adjacent consequences of the emergence of DGRS requires far reaching re-organization of the STS, that implies significant institutional changes moving away from centralized and hierarchical management (Wolsink, 2018).

State-of-the art social acceptance (SA) of energy innovation research shows that the original definition of social acceptance must be tightened up. This contribution will do so, based on: (1) The coverage of multiple levels, and institutional frameworks as the major factors of SA; (2) Focusing on crucial characteristics of the renewables’ innovations, e.g. distributed energy systems (DES), as the major elements of the object of SA. Beside distributed generation (DG), DES also includes distributed storage, systems of internal demand response (DR), and adjacent infrastructures connecting and regulating the DES. This not simply implementing new hardware, the crux is that DES is based on entirely different organizational principles than the existing centralist and hierarchical system of electricity supply.

De overgang naar een geheel nieuw systeem van energievoorziening, één van de grootste uitdagingen voor deze eeuw, heeft grote ruimtelijke consequenties. Deze beschouwing gaat over de transformatie naar een systeem van elektriciteitsvoorziening zonder koolstofhoudende brandstoffen. Dit is een institutioneel probleem, want de energievoorziening is niet eenvoudig een verzameling techniek en infrastructuur, maar een sociaal-technisch systeem. Het nieuwe systeem vereist, naast inzet van veel andere technologie, een totaal andere organisatorische opzet, waaronder het gebruik van ruimte. De antropologe Gretchen Bakke (2016) typeert het bestaande Noord-Amerikaanse elektriciteitsnet als de 'grootste machine' ter wereld, een 'infrastructuur', een 'cultureel artefact', een pakket 'business practices' én een 'ecologisch systeem'. Een systeem ,echter, dat is vormgegeven voor geheel andere behoeften dan die van de 21 ste eeuw.

According to the major trend in the literature on distributed generation adoption of composite multi-generation systems may yield significant benefits in terms of energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions. The microgrid is a cluster of loads of electricity users and micro-sources that operate as a single controllable system for generating and using power. It enables the production and storage of renewable energy, as well as the exchange of electricity between energy providers and consumers to take place locally. The social foundations of smart grids consist of decentralised socio-technical networks that underpin the electricity consumption of groups of consumers/end-users who are increasingly becoming autonomous. This article explores these factors for conditions that can be found in rural areas. These socio-technical networks form a community that exhibits high levels of interaction and integration between the actors, while the social construction of smart metering is key factor in determining the character of the smart grid. Most existing institutions, which are designed to support the centralized power supply system, will prove to be unfit for emerging microgrids within an integrated smart grid. This will likely to impede the deployment of distributed generation, in particular renewable energy.

Ongoing problems with renewable energy schemes have shown that institutional factors have proved to be the main determinants of renewables' deployment. The institutional constraints will likely affect the next stage of deployment of renewables even more. This phase concerns the integration of renewables into the energy supply system and the enhancement of these sources by the introduction of so-called 'smart grids' to optimize the exploitation of natural resources. These numerous microgrids mark a revolutionary turn our system of energy generation that requires many fundamental changes in the social construction of power supply. Creating a microgrid with substantial amounts of renewable energy is a problem of collective action, and in this regard Common Pool Resources' adaptive governance comes to the fore as a fruitful concept. Citizens/consumers and other end-users increasingly are becoming co-producers of electricity, and the option to include ‘distributed storage’ (electric vehicles) in the system promises to enhance this role and creates options to increase of renewables deployment. The co-producers may optimize the contribution of distributed generation by feeding their renewable energy in a cooperative micro-grid with mutual delivery. This requires a high level of self-governance and regulation that allows micro-grids. However, although such systems fundamentally concern involvement of a community right from the start, and the effective adaptive governance of such systems may be good for renewable energy, self-governance in the ‘common pool’ brings institutional questions of justice - distributive equity and fairness of process - to the fore. These equity and fairness dimensions of new microgrids and self-governance arrangements are explored in combination with the factors that further distributed energy generation.

Policies on the utilization of renewables, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and marine sources have been drafted in most countries. Although such policies have existed for more than three decades now, the acceptance of renewables by society has hardly been recognized as an important issue. Currently, the slow development of renewable energy sourcing in most countries is often blamed on this oversight, and within policy and among developers there still is little understanding of social acceptance issues. Moreover, the next crucial phase in the deployment of renewable energy systems for electricity (RES-E) concerns the integration of several different RES-E sources in the power supply system and with electricity demand. This requires the introduction of ‘intelligent grids’ (frame) that facilitate ‘distributed generation’ (DG), i.e. geographically dispersed power generation using renewable sources. However, such intelligent grids imply a fully different way of organizing the power supply, and all elements of the reorganization may suffer from lack of acceptance in society, just as the ‘simple’ deployment of renewables within the existing power supply has shown to be problematic.

This reference article gives an overview of social acceptance (acceptance by all relevant actors in society) of all relevant aspects of implementation and diffusion of wind power. In social acceptance three dimensions of acceptance are distinguished (socio-political -; community -; market acceptance) and two objects of acceptance: the application of wind power as a source of energy, and the acceptance of projects in which wind power is applied. This article explains why these two -in contrast to common sense expectations- are only weakly associated. Moreover, issues of acceptance are -again in contrast to common sense 'knowledge'- more pressing in policy realms and among the incumbents in the exisiting energy supply sector than among residents of communities hosting wind power infrastructure. Article Outline 1. Definition of the subject2. Introduction: four starting points 2.1 Socio-technical systems2.2 Acceptance of distinguishable aspects2.3 Institutional change2.4 Beyond common sense3. Dimensions of social acceptance of energy innovation4. Actors 5. Subjects of acceptance5.1 Attitude objects and attributes5.2 Two types of objects5.3. Attitude object: Energy source5.4 Attitude object: Wind development project5.5 Mind the ‘gap’5.6 The backyard6. Socio-political acceptance6.1 Institutional conditions6.2 Public opinion6.3 Economic conditions and financial support6.4 The impact of spatial planning and of location decision making7. Community acceptance7.1 Two dimensions of community involvement7.2 Identity of place7.3 Benefits7.4 Fairness and trust8. Market acceptance9. Significant attributes connected to identity9.1 Landscape/seascape9.2 Wildlife9.3 Annoyance by wind turbines: noise10. Future directions

Deze quickscan geeft een overzicht van kennisontwikkeling over adaptatie aan klimaatverandering binnen de (BSIK)-programma’s en gerelateerd onderzoek die lopen bij kennisinstellingen. Dit wordt gedaan ten behoeve van het Adaptatieprogramma Ruimte en Klimaat (ARK). Aan de volgende aspecten wordt aandacht besteed: 1.) De belangrijkste kennisvragen over adaptatie die leven bij de ministeries die betrokken zijn bij ARK, geordend naar beleidsthema’s, aangevuld met kennisvragen vanuit de onderzoekprogramma’s; 2.) lopende kennisontwikkelingtrajecten binnen BSIK-programma’s die, in potentie, antwoord gaan geven op deze kennisvragen; 3.) in ontwikkeling zijnde kennisontwikkelingtrajecten binnen BSIK-programma’s, waarin en deel van de kennisbehoefte vanuit de ARK-ministeries kan worden ingebed; 4.) kennisleemtes die niet worden gedekt binnen de huidige programmering van de BSIK programma’s en overige lopende onderzoekstrajecten

The Dutch physical planning system is at a turning point. Recently the Government proposed a new institutional framework for spatial planning. Theoretically, existing planning hierarchy suggests that planning in the Netherlands is conducted systematically, including a strong notion of integrated rationality and definition of goals. Theoretically, energy efficiency might be such a goal and hence, energy efficiency could be served by the planning system. In practice, the planning process is discursive and decisions are usually made through concerted action based on negotiations. At first sight, the intention to change the planning system is rationally oriented. However, the main lines of the proposal deviate from the insights into planning sustainability. Balanced decision-making and ‘governance’ may be affected. This is not likely to be favourable to energy efficiency, because these aspects are usually recognised as crucial to planning sustainability. Land use planning, planning policy and planning implementation introduce constraints for energy efficiency in consumption as well as for implementation of renewable options. The current trends in the planning system will be discussed with respect to the principles of sustainability and the consequences in the energy domain. The focus will be on the way knowledge of local conditions (‘situated knowledge’) is used in planning, which will be illustrated with examples of the significance of using such knowledge. If a planning process is closed as in the proposed ‘funnel model’, specific knowledge forms and value systems (experiential, local, tacit) are excluded.