Making just futures: anticipating energy (in)justices of energy innovations and place-based transitions

Abstract

Energy flows are the lifeblood of socio-ecological worlds: lived realities in which people and ecosystems are inextricably linked. Global energy systems are undergoing an unprecedented transformation away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy. This thesis is based on the premise that changing energy systems can transform socio-ecological worlds towards more just and sustainable outcomes. It is entangled with historical energy pathways and purposefully looks towards energy futures being made, techno-materially, socially and ecologically.

This thesis explores both technical and geographical case studies, focusing on one hand on three energy innovations - wave energy, tidal energy and green hydrogen production – and on the other, on the energy transition in the Orkney Islands, an archipelago off the north coast of Scotland. Both case studies are future-oriented and are interdependent, as the three energy innovations are undergoing research and development processes in Orkney.

Harnessing ‘Energy Justice’ and ‘Just Transitions’ scholarships alongside ‘Responsible Research and Innovation’, this research develops Justice by Design: a novel conceptual framework and methodology. Justice by Design is applied through interviews and workshops to anticipate (in)justice risks and opportunities of wave energy, tidal energy and green hydrogen production and of energy transitions in Orkney. Inductive, thematic results are derived via Reflexive Thematic Analysis.

Results are presented thematically and elucidate structural, socio-technical and imagined dimensions of energy futures in which justice dynamics can unfold, relating to the case studies explored. These span economic systems, power dynamics and physical infrastructures; social uses, expectations and relations to energy; human/nature hierarchies and interactions; innovation processes and the assumptions, contradictions and aspirations underpinning imagined low-carbon energy futures.

The results are then discussed, first, through a whole systems lens across space, time and species, which is well recognised in energy-and-justice scholarships; and second, in relation to identified research frontiers for energy justice. A whole systems discussion of results highlights anticipated dynamics of (in)justice within human/nature relationships, risks of supply chain opacity and the creation of energy production sacrifice zones, alongside opportunities to reimagine temporal tensions between climate change mitigation urgency and the time required for a ‘just transition’. The discussion of results then turns to informing three energy justice research frontiers, pushing the boundaries of the field further through insights into energy, economic and belief systems, the identification of new energy case studies for attention and through deepened analysis of energy justice tenet interdependence.

Overall, this thesis makes conceptual, methodological and empirical contributions. Conceptually and methodologically, Justice by Design increases capabilities for anticipatory, justice-oriented energy analysis and decision-making, while the discussion of results also contributes conceptually to energy-and-justice fields. Empirically, this thesis informs the development pathways of three energy innovations via the anticipation of their potential (in)justice implications. It also informs empirical understandings of (un)just energy futures in Orkney, setting out a robust foundation for energy transition planning in/by the archipelago.