Energy Security of Thermal Energy Communities

This thesis aims to support the design and implementation of energy-secure thermal energy communities (TEC) by investigating their technical, behavioural and institutional settings through a collective action perspective. The thesis shows that energy-secure TEC initiatives are collective energy systems with particular characteristics and...

Contested transition? Exploring the politics and process of regional energy planning in Indonesia

Transitioning to low carbon energy involves policies, institutions, and actors across different scales of governance. Indonesia's aspiration for a transition to low carbon energy is occurring in the dynamics of the re-scaling of environmental governance through decentralization processes. This article examines the interplays of actors at the...

A governance approach to regional energy transition: Meaning, conceptualization and practice

Energy transition requires action from different levels of government. While the national and local level have received ample scholarly attention, thus far little attention has been paid to the regional level. This is remarkable because policy makers across Europe are wondering what governance of regional transition actually is and how to...

Energy Strategies, the Urban Dimension, and Spatial Planning

The UN Paris Agreement of November 2016 recognises the need for a ‘cleaner and more efficient energy system’ as a core policy goal to address climate change. The spatial and urban form of cities is a key factor in achieving more efficient energy production and consumption and becomes more important with rapid urbanisation across much of the...

Beyond instrumentalism: Broadening the understanding of social innovation in socio-technical energy systems

Social innovation is an important dimension of current transformations in energy systems. It can refer to alternative business models, novel policy instruments, financing schemes, participatory governance approaches to energy questions, or new discourses. Its significance for energy systems is often considered in narrow instrumentalist terms,...

Facilitating energy transition through energy commons: An application of socio-ecological systems framework for integrated community energy systems

Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES) are an emerging local energy system focusing on the collective use of distributed energy resources (DER). These socio-technical systems (STSs) have a high potential to advance the transition towards socially inclusive, environmentally-friendly energy systems and to stimulate the local economy. While...

Innovation in the European energy sector and regulatory responses to it: Guest editorial note

The European energy sector is an important economic sector that is also traditionally highly regulated. With the increasing tempo in which innovations in technology and markets occur, catalysed inter alia by the energy transition and accompanied by new formats of innovation (disruptive and bottom-up), the question arises whether existing...

Presenting a framework to analyze local climate policy and action in small and medium-sized cities

Academic attention to local climate policy usually focuses on large-sized cities. Given the climate challenges ahead this seems unjustified. Small and medium-sized cities (SMCs) deserve scholarly attention as well. The main question is: What factors influence climate change policy and local climate actions in SMCs? In this article we present...

Policy Frameworks for Energy Transition in England: Challenges in a Former Industrial City

This paper addresses the make-up and the limitations of a multi-level governance approach in tackling issues of fuel poverty and energy transition connected to poverty in England. Although the English planning framework offers unparalleled opportunities for innovative governance arrangements, and although much has been done in this area by...