Benjamin K. Sovacool

Diversity: Energy studies need social science

A broader pool of expertise is needed to understand how human behaviour affects energy demand and the uptake of technologies, says Benjamin K. Sovacool.

Scaling the policy response to climate change

Abstract This article assesses the advantages and disadvantages of fighting climate change through local, bottom-up strategies as well as global, top-down approaches. After noting that each scale of action—the local and the global—has distinct costs and benefits, the article explores the importance of scale in three case studies (the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, and efforts at adaptation/mitigation). It concludes that local thinking must be coupled with global and national scales of action in order to achieve the levels of carbon dioxide reductions needed to avoid dangerous climate impacts.

Hard and soft paths for climate change adaptation

Amory Lovins’ distinction between ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ paths of energy technologies is applied, mutatis mutandis, to humanitys efforts to adapt to climate change. It is argued that hard adaptive measures involve capital-intensive, large, complex, inflexible technology and infrastructure, whereas soft adaptive measures prioritize natural capital, community control, simplicity and appropriateness. The prevalence of these two types of adaptation pathways is illustrated through two case studies from the Maldives: The Safer Island Development Program and the Integrating Climate Change Risks Program. Policymakers must be aware that hard and soft adaptation measures may trade off with each other, and give both paths due consideration.

A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia

Abstract This article judges modern nuclear power and renewable electricity technologies according to six criteria: cost; fuel availability; land degradation; water use; climate change; and safety/security. It concludes that when these criteria are taken into consideration, renewable electricity technologies present policy makers with a superior alternative for minimising the risk of fuel interruptions and shortages, helping improve the fragile transmission network and reducing environmental harm. These more environmentally-friendly generators cost less to construct, produce power in smaller increments and need not rely on continuous government subsidies. They generate little to no waste, have fewer greenhouse gas emissions per unit of electricity produced and do not substantially contribute to the risk of accidents. In contrast, the costs for nuclear plant construction, fuel, reprocessing, storage, decommissioning and further research are expected to rise. Modern nuclear reactors are prone to accidents, failures, shortages of high quality uranium ore may be imminent and the thermoelectric fuel cycle of nuclear plants consumes and degrades vast quantities of water. Greenhouse gas emissions associated with the nuclear lifecycle are notable and reactors and waste storage sites can degrade land and the natural environment. Thus, the article concludes that any effective response to electricity demand in an Asia facing climate change should promote the rapid expansion of renewable technologies and a more limited use of nuclear power.

Expert views of climate change adaptation in least developed Asia

Drawing primarily from original data collected from more than 100 semi-structured research interviews, this study discusses the benefits of four climate change adaptation projects being implemented in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, and the Maldives. The article begins by explaining its research methods and selecting a sample of Global Environment Facility-Least Developed Country Fund projects being implemented in Asia to analyze. It then describes ongoing adaptation efforts in each of these four countries. It finds that projects enhance infrastructural resilience by building relevant, robust, and flexible technologies. They build institutional resilience by creating strong, permanent, legitimate organizations in place to respond to climate change issues. They promote community resilience by enhancing local ownership, building capacity, and creating networks that help ordinary people learn and adapt to climate change. We find that all four of our case studies couple adaptive improvements in technology and infrastructure with those in governance and community welfare, underscoring the holistic or systemic aspect of resilience. Our study also demonstrates the salience of a functions-based approach to resilience and adaptive capacity rather than an asset-based one.

Sociotechnical transitions for deep decarbonization

Accelerating innovation is as important as climate policy Rapid and deep reductions in greenhouse gas emission are needed to avoid dangerous climate change. This will necessitate low-carbon transitions across electricity, transport, heat, industrial, forestry, and agricultural systems. But despite recent rapid growth in renewable electricity generation, the rate of progress toward this wider goal of deep decarbonization remains slow. Moreover, many policy-oriented energy and climate researchers and models remain wedded to disciplinary approaches that focus on a single piece of the low-carbon transition puzzle, yet avoid many crucial real-world elements for accelerated transitions (1). We present a “sociotechnical” framework to address the multidimensionality of the deep decarbonization challenge and show how coevolutionary interactions between technologies and societal groups can accelerate low-carbon transitions.

Back to the Future Small Modular Reactors, Nuclear Fantasies, and Symbolic Convergence

In this article, we argue that scientists and technologists associated with the nuclear industry are building support for small modular reactors (SMRs) by advancing five rhetorical visions imbued with elements of fantasy that cater to various social expectations. The five visions are as follows: a vision of risk-free energy would eliminate catastrophic accidents and meltdowns. A vision of indigenous self-energization would see SMRs empowering remote communities and developing economies. A vision of water security would see SMR-powered desalination plants satisfying the world’s water needs. A vision of environmental nirvana would see SMRs providing waste-free and carbon-free electricity to preserve the earth’s biosphere. A vision of space exploration would see SMRs assisting in the colonization of the moon, Mars, and possibly other worlds. These visions help create a symbolic convergence among promoters, serving to attract political and financial support, and erasing previous nuclear failures from public discourse. Moreover, underlying these visions is a technological utopian ideal world where SMRs would generate plentiful energy of multiple kinds (electricity and heat), offering the necessary means for a life of comfort for all people by meeting various needs (lighting, temperature control, drinking water, and provision of scarce minerals) and without any environmental externalities or cause for concern about accidents.

The political economy of oil and gas in Southeast Asia: heading towards the natural resource curse?

Abstract The notion of the resource curse suggests that countries with large caches of natural resources often perform worse in terms of economic growth, social development, and good governance than other countries with fewer resources. The theory posits that countries depending on oil or other extractive industries for their livelihood are among the most economically troubled, socially unstable, authoritarian, and conflict-ridden in the world. This article explores whether the resource curse is occurring in relation to oil and gas production in Southeast Asia, where investments in oil and gas infrastructure are expected to increase significantly. The article begins by conceptualizing the resource curse before explaining the factors believed to cause it. It then proposes metrics that can be used to identify the presence of the resource curse before testing these metrics on the five Southeast Asian countries with the largest rates of oil and gas production and reserves – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand – from 1987 to 2007. The article compares the performance of these Southeast Asian countries with the five largest producers in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries as well as Brazil, China, India, the Russian Federation, and South Africa. The article concludes that the resource curse is not occurring in any of these countries, and that the theory may be too simplistic and deterministic to fully explain why some countries appear to be ‘cursed’ with resources while others are ‘blessed’.

Wind Turbines and Invisible Technology: Unarticulated Reasons for Local Opposition to Wind Energy

Local opposition to wind turbines stems from concerns about environmental and economic damage, as well as conflicts between rural and urban residents. This essay goes beyond these considerations to explore the often-unarticulated explanations for animosity toward this energy technology. Originally, it posits that opposition to visually obvious turbines arises from the successful history of an electric utility system that made its product largely invisible in its manufacture and physical manifestation. The existence of conspicuous turbines, however, reminds observers that power generation requires difficult choices in a technology-based society. The system’s previous achievement in hiding infrastructural elements, in other words, sometimes works ironically to spur objections to wind turbines. Receiving little historical study, the concealed features of a system’s infrastructure often influence assessments of technologies. By revealing the previously invisible, this essay, which draws on research in history, landscape architecture, geography, and psychology, therefore provides insights for social scientists and policymakers.

Design Principles for Renewable Energy Programs in Developing Countries

This article introduces readers to the concept of energy poverty and the types of renewable energy technologies that can overcome it. It discusses the benefits of solar home systems, residential wind turbines, biogas digesters and gasifiers, microhydro dams, and improved cookstoves and the various mechanisms planners and policymakers have utilized to disseminate these technologies. Then, based on four years of field research studying programs in Bangladesh, China, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea, the article presents twelve lessons for how policymakers and development planners can improve future renewable energy projects. These lessons include selecting appropriate technology matched in scale and quality to the energy services communities desire, emphasizing affordability rather than installed capacity, and viewing communities and end-users as active participants in energy production and use rather than passive consumers.