Decarbonising Electricity

Decarbonising electricity is an urgent priority if the world is to minimize global heating under climate change, and achieve the goal of net zero carbon by mid-Century, as agreed at the Paris Climate Summit in 2015.

Podcast

Solar Power Contestation in India

Narrated by Prof Devleena Ghosh | Produced by Jake Morcom

Case Studies

South Australia

A leader in the national renewable energy transition.

Karnataka, India

Currently has the highest installed renewable energy.

Brandenburg, Germany

A major exporter of power to other German states.

A Comparison in Socio-ecological Relations

Decarbonization means the phase-out of all fossil-fueled infrastructure – power plants, factories, vehicles, ships and planes – and replacement by low carbon alternatives.

Electricity generation is the biggest contributor to global CO2 emissions and a shift to renewable energy in this sector is critical. Current efforts at decarbonising electricity are inadequate, but are bearing some fruit. 

There is increasing evidence that an “energy transition” away from fossil fuels is underway, albeit highly uneven and concentrated in some countries. Costs of renewable energy have fallen faster than expected, and the rate of installation of technologies such as solar PV has consistently exceeded predictions by the International Energy Agency, Greenpeace & others. 

It is vitally important that this emerging energy transformation is accelerated. Given the power of the fossil fuel sector, political leadership is central, as is wider social legitimacy for the renewables sector. 

This project addresses this legitimacy question, investigating the ways that renewable energy policy and practice play-out in very different country contexts.

The project seeks to derive common themes across high and low-income countries: India is chosen as a low-income emerging industrial country, Germany as a post-industrial high income country, and Australia as a high-income extractivist country.  

All three are federal states with sub-national jurisdictions that play an important role in electricity policy. To gain a more grounded perspective, in each country we focus on a sub-national region that has become particularly reliant on renewable energy. These are Brandenburg in Germany, Karnataka in India, and South Australia.

In analysing renewable energy and legitimacy we use a model that encompasses broad socio-ecological relations of energy. That means we are uncovering the social, political, financial and environmental forces that drive how and why renewable energy projects are developed – what issues are given importance and what issues are sidelined, who benefits and who loses out.

We analyse the social context and experience of the region-level shift to renewable energy. How do the various stakeholders envision and deal with new wind-farms and solar parks in the three states mentioned?

To contextualize our observations, we take the overall direction of renewable development in the national context into account, look at the histories and current context of particular sites, uncover the processes of regional policy formation, and try to understand the changes in, and attitudes towards, the economy, the government, the corporate sphere and civil society. 

We consequently also ask if the shift to new forms of energy also open up possibilities for new kinds of politics – sometimes referred to as “energy democracy”.

Case Studies

Australia

Investigating the unfolding of renewables in South Australia, a state that is often held up as a leader in the national renewable energy transition.

India

Looking at the various factors that make up and influence the ‘social legitimacy’ of both wind and solar projects, and how they differ. 

Germany

Researching the various factors that make up and influence the ‘social legitimacy’ of wind and solar projects in the eastern state of Brandenburg.

Contact Us

Podcast: Solar Power Contestation in India

What does renewable energy look like for communities at the frontlines of the transition? In this podcast released via The Conversation, accompanied by a journal article in Globalizations, and policy report, we explore this question through the case of one of India’s, and the world’s, biggest solar parks.

Credits

Narrated by Prof Devleena Ghosh, University of Technology Sydney. Produced by Jake Morcom audio producer for the ABC, Guardian Australia, Radio National, Southern Cross Austereo and more. He was series producer for Guardian Australia's five-part series called 'Australia v the Climate' during the '21 Glasgow COP.