“Social Justice and Solar Energy Implementation”
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“SOCIAL JUSTICE AND SOLAR ENERGY IMPLEMENTATION” A case study of Charanaka solar park, Gujarat, India PhD THESIS Submitted to the University of Birmingham For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Geography and Environmental Sciences) By KOMALIRANI YENNETI Society, Economy, and Environment School of Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences College of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham 2014 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Blank Page i ABSTRACT In the recent years, social issues around renewable energy implementation have been gaining prominence both in developed and developing countries. Though researchers across different disciplines in developed countries have started dealing with this issue, there is a lack of theoretical or empirical research in developing countries. This research from a pluralistic perspective and using the case study of ‘Charanaka Solar Park’ qualitatively analyses the relationship between ‘justice’ and solar energy implementation in India. The justice framework used in this thesis corresponds to the theoretical knowledge on a) procedural justice and b) distributional justice principles based in social, environmental, and energy justice literatures. The application of multiple theories of justice proved to be significant and useful instrument for analysing controversies over implementation of solar (renewable) energy policies. The results of this research have provided new insights into how social justice issues, such as recognition of marginalised communities, equal and democratic participation, and just distribution of project outcomes, are strongly interconnected to implementation of ‘environmentally good’ projects. Following the findings of this research, recommendations for policy-makers and practitioners are proposed and pathways for future research are outlined. Keywords: Charanaka solar park, social justice, distributional justice, procedural justice, solar energy. ii iii Dedicated to My parents, ‘Sai’ and ‘The Supreme Soul’ iv DISCLAIMER This document describes work undertaken as part of a PhD programme at the School of Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham. All views and opinions expressed therein remain the sole responsibility of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of the department or the University. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is a reflection of my research on understanding relationship between solar energy implementation and social justice. It was immensely difficult to take up a topic which talks more about societies and its organization. The journey towards this final stop was made much smoother by various people. First of all I take this opportunity to extend my sincere gratitude to Dr. Rosie Day, my supervisor, for her constant support which lead to shape this research. I highly acknowledge Dr. Oleg Golubchikov, and Prof. Stefan Buzarovski, my other supervisors, without whom the journey would have been incomplete. All your valuable guidance, suggestions, encouragement, discussions, and mentoring throughout the process opened up world of new possibilities for the research. Thank you all for your precious time and quality guidance which helped me to evolve myself and pursue my beliefs. My sincere thanks and appreciation also go to the following people at University of Birmingham who supported me in various ways, and to various extent: Dr. Lauren Andres, Dr. Phil Jones, Dr. Dominique Moran, supervisory board members, and other academic staff at GEES for kindly listening and guiding whenever required. Ms. Gretchel Coldicott, for all that help with various administrative concerns, answering my email and telephone queries over my period of stay. Mr. Jamie Peart, from ‘Map Room’, for supporting and providing technical devices required for my fieldwork, scanning necessary documents whenever required, and other technical support over my research. Central library and all its staff. Sam and other IT department guys for providing with computer and necessary technical facilities, and also solving technical issues. The data collection and field work required for the study would not have been possible without help and co-operation from various people and organisations. I sincerely thank all the following institutions, government and private departments, and people: Charanaka, the Upsarpanch, the ‘elite’ group, and other beautiful people of Charanaka for their kind hospitality and valuable information. They are the real contributors of this enterprise. The ‘Principal Secretary’ of EPD (Gandhinagar, Gujarat), for providing a letter that enabled access to all solar park related institutions. Various government officials and interviewees from GPCL, GETCO, GEC, GERMI, and other institutions for their valuable contributions vi and important inputs on development of the Charanaka solar park. The private business developers and the investors of the solar park for their personal communications, and augmenting my knowledge on solar energy and its related fields. Experts of PDP University and CEPT University in Gujarat for their words of guidance and effective discussions on policy and social concerns relating to the solar park. The libraries of these universities provided me repositories of knowledge on solar energy development in India and Gujarat. I am thankful to all my colleagues and friends in 225 PhD room for those discussions and refreshing moments over coffee, lunch, and breaks. Special thanks go to my Indian friends for those lifetime cherishing moments during lunch and Indian festival celebrations. Those fun-filled moments with friends kept me going. I am grateful to the Almighty for providing me with a faith in myself and making all things happen without which nothing was possible. I am reverent towards my parents for their immortal blessings and moral support for all my endeavours. They have been a constant source of inspiration. The efforts and support of my other friends and family members has been invaluable. I am thankful to all my well-wishers who have contributed in big or small way in completion of this thesis. Finally, my heartfelt thanks to my partner for his constant encouragement, motivation, support during fieldwork, and being there in all ups and downs of this research. Without his support this research wasn’t possible. I thank him for being the good luck charm in my life. My kind apologies to everyone I may have, unintentionally, failed to acknowledge. With due gratitude to all…. Komalirani Yenneti vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... II DISCLAIMER .................................................................................................................................. V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... VIII LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... XII LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... XIII LIST OF PLATES ......................................................................................................................... XIV LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................... XV LIST OF GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................. XVIII 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 RESEARCHING ‘JUSTICE’ ..................................................................................................... 6 1.2 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ............................................................................................... 13 2. DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE ...................................................................................................... 17 2.1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 17 2.2. FOUNDATIONS OF DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE ............................................................................ 18 2.3. DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE IN GEOGRAPHY ............................................................................... 24 2.4. DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABILITY .............................. 30 2.5. DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE IN RENEWABLE ENERGY ................................................................... 35 2.6. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................