Ending Fossil Fuel Investments for the Renewable Energy Transition - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Ending Fossil Fuel Investments for the Renewable Energy Transition

Legislative Policy Research Summit on Climate Change November 18, 2014

Jennie C. Stephens, Ph.D.

Associate Professor Blittersdorf Professor of Sustainability Science and Policy Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences

Increasing CO2 concentrations

50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000 Year EJ/year Gas Oil Coal Nuclear Hydro + Biomass

Increasing global energy demand

Climate Change & Energy: intricately linked

Energy system change necessary for mitigation & enhancing resilience

Source: http://aim.hamptonu.edu/library/gallery/gal-sci.html

Holdren, 2006 Moving away from fossil fuels not just for climate Energy independence Local economic health Community empowerment Public health Environmental and social impacts of fossil fuel extraction

Integrating Science/Engineering with Social Science

Born and lived first in Dublin, Ireland Dual US‐EU citizenship BA Harvard in Environmental Science and Public Policy (1997) MS and PhD Caltech in Environmental Science and Engineering (1998 and 2002) Post‐Doctoral Research at Harvard Kennedy School 2002‐2005. Clark Faculty in Environmental Science & Policy 2005 – 2014

Water Water Soil Carbon Policy Energy: Carbon Capture & Storage Social dimensions

• f energy & climate

Blittersdorf Professor of Sustainability Science & Policy

An Energy S ystem Transition is Underway

involves technological and social change involves both investment and divestment

Fossil fuel based energy systems Renewable based energy systems

IEEE Spectrum, 2014

Moving away from fossil fuels not just for carbon & climate Energy independence Local economic health Community empowerment Public health Environmental impacts of fossil fuel extraction Change is difficult – lock-in - multiple tensions

Growing Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement

My Research: Social & Political Dimensions of Energy System Change

• Highlights factors beyond technical details & cost estimates

▫ Cultural influence – how individuals & communities relate to

technological changes and connect with social change?

▫ Political influence – who supports which technologies and why?

 How can we integrate social and technical changes?  Power and influence of fossil fuel interests

• Research on social and political dimensions of…

.

Wind power Smart grid Carbon capture & storage (CCS)

Regulatory and Legal Cultural Political Technical Econom ic Environm ental

Energy Technology Deploym ent

Acknowledging & Broadening Energy Discourse SPEED (Socio-Political Evaluation of Energy Deployment)

Stephens, JC, EJ Wilson, TR Peterson. 2008. “Socio-Political Evaluation of Energy Deployment (SPEED): An Integrated

Research Framework Analyzing Energy Technology Deployment” Technologica l Foreca sting a nd Socia l

Cha nge. 75: 1224–1246

Stephens, JC, EJ Wilson, TR Peterson, Smart Grid: Promoting System Innovation in Complex Multi-jurisdictional Socio-Political Contexts, UCLA La w Rev iew , Volume 61, Issue 6, July 2014

A framework to assess perspectives influencing energy system change

Highlights of smart grid research

• Diversity of visions for change in electricity systems

▫ Social and cultural change as well as technical change

• Bifurcating perspectives on social change

▫ Some view technological change as sustaining current energy expectations, limiting need for social change ▫ Some envision radical social change in energy consumption

• Tensions in Centralization vs. Decentralization
• Decentralization offers more flexibility, modularity,

and adaptive capacity –also locally appropriate

• Multiple opportunities for broader civic engagement

in energy system change

▫ Including energy education outside of engineering ▫ Energy studies could be more socially oriented, interdisciplinary and heterogeneous.

Forthcoming Book Cambridge University Press, 2015 Foreward by Michael Dworkin

Massachusetts Minnesota Montana Texas

High degree of controversy & more public awareness despite less wind power. Framing within cultural, health & safety, & environmental frames Densely populated state. High competition for land. Not used to seeing energy infrastructure Largely positive Risk focused on technical and economic, not aesthetic or environmental Positive discourse as a rural economic development tool. Community

• wnership
• f wind turbines

strong Largely framed as an economic issue Minimal environmental framing Little risk discourse Reflects states strong energy-industry history Vast space - cheaper land. High familiarity & comfort with energy infrastructure Low public interest and engagement on wind –minimal discourse Sparsely populated, electricity exporter Lower familiarity with wind than TX

• r MN

Minimal connection to climate change

Fischlein, M, J Larson, D Hall, R Chaudhry, JC Stephens, TR Peterson, EJ Wilson. 2010. Policy stakeholders and deployment of wind power in the sub-national context: a comparison of four U.S. states. Energy Policy 38: 4429–4439 Fischlein, M, AM Feldpausch-Parker, TR Peterson, JC Stephens, EJ Wilson. Which way does the wind blow? Analyzing the sub‐national context for renewable energy deployment in the United States. Environm ental Policy and Governance Accepted. In Press.

Highlights of wind research - Comparison of socio-political context

An Energy S ystem Transition is Underway

involves technological and social change involves both investment and divestment Multiple tensions relating to… … .. Time-frame of change – urgency? Radical vs. incremental change? Who benefits from change? Powerful entrenched interests resist change Role of government to facilitate or accelerate change?

Fossil fuel based energy systems Renewable based energy systems

IEEE Spectrum, 2014

Tensions related to “ bridging” technologies and fuels

Fossil fuel based energy systems Renewable based energy systems

IEEE Spectrum, 2014

How to prioritize investments during the transition?

▫ How much to invest in “bridge” technologies/fuels? ▫ Too much investment in bridge can strengthen lock-in & slow down transition ▫ Leaders in the transition recognize divesting in fossil fuels intricately linked to investing in renewables

CO2 capture

(Separation and compression)

CO2 storage

(including monitoring and verification)

Transport

S hould governments invest in Carbon Capture & S torage (CCS )?

IEA, 2006

• The US among the countries investing most heavily in CCS

▫ High reliance on coal & oil industry influence

• CCS has changed US climate and coal politics

▫ Offers solution to coal-climate dilemma

• The CCS community, risks and public opposition

▫ An epistemic community advocating & ignoring risks?

• Technological as well as political lock-in

Controversial set of technologies viewed by some as……

• absolutely essential to climate stabilization
• an end-of-pipe, fossil-fuel-industry-supporting technology that

detracts from renewables and slows transition

Stephens, J.C., A. Hansson, Y. Liu, H. de Coninck, S. Vajjhala. 2011. Characterizing the International Carbon Capture and Storage Community. Globa l Env ironm enta l Cha nge. 21: 379-390

• Encourages complacency by

creating false sense of optimism

• Assumes inevitability of sustained

coal use – perpetuates fossil‐fuels

• Unjustified claims of “solving”

climate change

• Political lock‐in to continued

investment

• Distant uncertain future societal

benefit

Stephens, J. C. (2014). "Time to stop investing in carbon capture and storage and reduce government subsidies of fossil-fuels." Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 5: 169-173.

Studying Leaders in Energy System Transitions:

Collaborating with the Helmholtz Alliance ENERGY‐TRANS

Vermont: Comprehensive Energy Plan German Energiewende (energy revolution)

• State‐level commitment
• National‐level commitment

Concluding Points Transitions are complicated and messy – not linear. Tensions inevitable. Divestment in fossil fuel requires supporting those whose livelihoods are challenged Climate science increases urgency for energy system change, but as entrenched actors feel more threatened they increase resistance Transition requires cultural shifts & mechanisms to reduce the power and influence of corporations in governance

Movement to broaden energy beyond engineering & economics

Sovacool, B. K. (2014). Energy studies need social science Nature 511: 529-530

• Under-evaluation of social dimensions
• Under-representation of women & minorities
• Minimal integration and collaboration of social science

& humanities Fri, R. W. and M. L. Savitz (2014). Rethinking energy innovation & social science Energy Research & Social Science 1(0): 183-187.

• Opportunities for policy-makers to engage with social

scientists in new ways to facilitate the energy system transition

Acknowledgements: Funding & Collaborators

Smart Grid Project NSF Grant Science, Technology and Society Program (NSF‐SES 1127697) NSF RAPID Grant Science, Technology & Society (NSF‐SES 1316442) Collaborators: Tarla Rai Peterson, Elizabeth Wilson, James Meadowcroft Stakeholder Engagement in Climate Modeling USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture 2011‐67003‐30346 Collaborators: Multiple Politics of CCS Project MISTRA (Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research) Collaborators: Heleen do Connick, Shalini Vaajhala, Scott Jiusto Wind and CCS Project NSF Grant Science and Society program (NSF‐SES‐0724257). Collaborators: Elizabeth Wilson, Tarla Rai Peterson

Publications on website Email: jennie.stephens@uvm .edy Website: blog.uvm.edu/jstephe1 Currently recruiting graduate students

Elizabeth Wilson, U of Minnesota Tarla Rai Peterson, Texas A&M and

Swedish University of Agricultural Science