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From Local to Global Value

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From Local to Global Value From local to global value: The transformational nature of community energy Submitted by Iain Soutar to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography November 2015 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. ……………………………. Abstract The UK energy system has in the past been characterised by the ownership and control of large-scale supply technologies by corporate entities. It has become apparent however that such structures are ill suited to addressing contemporary energy challenges of decarbonisation, energy security and affordability. Moreover, their resistance to change means that the current system is fundamentally inconsistent with the need for energy system change. The advent of affordable renewable energy however, particularly at small- scale, offers new prospects for addressing these energy challenges. In particular, they present an opportunity for greater societal engagement in the energy system, not least as owners and managers of energy assets, but also as stakeholders with interest and influence in the energy system more generally. Within the context of greater citizen engagement in energy, community energy has developed in the UK as an organised means for “collective action to purchase, manage and generate energy” (DECC, 2014b). Such collective action is complimented by progressively broad engagement by individuals in the energy system as investors and prosumers, rather than solely consumers. This thesis responds to a need to better understand the role and value of community energy, and wider societal engagement more generally, within the wider energy system. Taking a mixed-methods approach, this thesis contends that community energy has the potential to have significant impacts at both local and national scales. Social, economic and environmental impacts of a specific community energy project are evidenced to illustrate the breadth and scale of potential impacts at the local level. Broader analysis of the community energy movement, and of ‘small-scale energy’ more generally is suggestive of the potential for such approaches to be transformative in terms of overcoming system inertia. In particular, the energy system is undergoing a process of democratisation, whereby power, wealth and value is gradually distributed among society. A key role for policymakers then is to consider the strategic importance of democratisation. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................... 2! Table of Contents .......................................................................................... 3! List of Figures .............................................................................................. 10! List of tables ................................................................................................ 12! List of Abbreviations .................................................................................... 13! Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 15! 1! The road now taken? ................................................................................ 16! 1.1! Understanding energy transitions ....................................................... 19! 1.2! Structure of the thesis ........................................................................ 22! 2! The role of scale in overcoming contemporary energy challenges .......... 27! 2.1! New objectives, new decisions ........................................................... 28! 2.2! Inadequacies of the current energy system ....................................... 31! 2.2.1! Climate change ............................................................................ 31! 2.2.2! Energy security ............................................................................. 34! 2.2.3! Affordability ................................................................................... 35! 2.3! Inertia as the fourth objective ............................................................. 37! 2.3.1! Timescales of incumbency and change ....................................... 37! 2.3.2! Questioning the inevitability of a fossil-fuel based system ........... 38! 2.3.3! Conceptualising lock in ................................................................. 40! 2.3.4! Technological lock-in .................................................................... 41! 2.3.5! Institutional lock-in ........................................................................ 42! 2.3.6! Cultural lock-in .............................................................................. 43! 2.4! Alternative prospects of a different approach to energy ..................... 44! 2.4.1! Conceptualising an alternative pathway ....................................... 45! 3 2.4.2! Emissions reduction ..................................................................... 45! 2.4.3! Energy security ............................................................................. 46! 2.4.4! Affordability ................................................................................... 46! 2.5! Overcoming inertia: the role of small-scale ........................................ 48! 2.5.1! Improved cost structures .............................................................. 49! 2.5.2! Technological learning and economies of scale ........................... 50! 2.5.3! More diverse ownership ............................................................... 52! 2.5.4! Managing demand ........................................................................ 56! 2.5.5! Network and market integrated generation .................................. 58! 2.5.6! Shifts in governance ..................................................................... 59! 2.5.7! Scale within energy policy ............................................................ 61! 2.5.8! Scale within renewable energy policy .......................................... 62! 2.6! UK community energy: emergence and constraint ............................ 64! 2.6.1! Evolution of community-based energy in the UK ......................... 65! 2.6.2! Relating community energy to wider societal change .................. 67! 2.6.3! Building a case for CE development ............................................ 68! 2.7! Summary ............................................................................................ 70! 3! Overseas community energy exemplars .................................................. 72! 3.1! RE penetration and ownership in UK, Denmark and Germany .......... 73! 3.2! Community energy in Denmark .......................................................... 76! 3.2.1! Danish industrial policy ................................................................. 76! 3.2.2! Renewables policy ....................................................................... 77! 3.2.3! Planning and ownership ............................................................... 78! 3.2.4! Danish policymaking and regulation ............................................. 79! 3.2.5! Summary ...................................................................................... 80! 4 3.3! Community energy in Germany .......................................................... 80! 3.3.1! Early German renewable energy policy ....................................... 80! 3.3.2! Planning ....................................................................................... 81! 3.3.3! The Energiewende ....................................................................... 82! 3.3.4! Funding ........................................................................................ 83! 3.3.5! Ownership .................................................................................... 84! 3.3.6! Summary ...................................................................................... 86! 3.4! Conclusion .......................................................................................... 86! 4! Methods .................................................................................................... 88! 4.1! Research context ............................................................................... 88! 4.2! Rationales for research approach ...................................................... 90! 4.2.1! Conceptual framework ................................................................. 90! 4.2.2! Integration of research methods ................................................... 93! 4.2.3! Rationale of a case study approach ............................................. 94! 4.2.4! Broader observations of the evolution of community energy ....... 97! 4.2.5! The multi-level perspective ........................................................... 97! 4.3! Research boundaries ....................................................................... 100! 4.3.1! Definitional issues ...................................................................... 100! 4.3.2! Primary study area ..................................................................... 101! 4.3.3! Wider area of interest ................................................................
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