Distributing power, a transition to a civic energy future: Report of the Realising Transition Pathways Research Consortium ‘Engine Room’

Abstract

The overarching challenge for UK energy policy is to\nensure the delivery of secure, affordable energy in a\nway that meets the emission reductions targets laid\nout in the Climate Change Act (2008). The EPSRCfunded\nTransition Pathways (TP) and, more recently,\nRealising Transition Pathways (RTP) projects have both argued that multiple logics of governance, ownership, and control of the electricity system can be followed to address the energy trilemma. This work has developed three transition pathways for the UK energy system, each driven by different governance patterns. Each pathway has a specific technological mix, institutional architecture, and societal drivers. These pathways are:\nCentral Co-ordination: Central to this pathway\nis the role of the nation state in actively delivering the transition.\nMarket Rules: After the creation of a broad\npolicy framework, the state allows competition\nand private companies to deliver sustainable,\naffordable energy.\nThousand Flowers: This pathway is characterised by a greatly expanded role for civil society in delivering distributed low-carbon generation.\nThe following report focuses on the Thousand\nFlowers pathway. There is growing interest, from a range of stakeholders, in the potential of distributed low-carbon electricity generation in delivering a low-carbon energy system. Yet there are still significant gaps in understanding, particularly regarding the feasibility of scaling up\ndistributed generation from technological, governance, regulation, policy, and financial perspectives. The aim of this report is to address these gaps within the context of the Thousand Flowers pathway. This research was carried out by the ‘Engine Room’ of the EPSRC-funded Realising Transition Pathways (RTP) consortium. The ‘Engine Room’ was established to facilitate interdisciplinary work across the consortium\nand consists of research fellows and doctoral\nresearchers from different fields in the nine partner\ninstitutions. Engine Room workshops and meetings\ngive researchers the space to present their work\nand develop and exchange ideas with their peers.\nThis report is an output of a series of interdisciplinary Engine Room workshops held throughout 2013/14 which also drew on contributions from energy industry stakeholders. These workshops brought together the current research and cumulative findings of the Realising Transition Pathways consortium, to examine the consequences of a transition from a centralised energy system to one where distributed generation plays a much greater role (50% of final electricity demand), and is delivered by a civic energy sector. In this report we do not present any panaceas, attempt to preference a civil response to energy transition,\nor claim technological infallibility. We do, however,\nexplore the potential of a distributed energy future and investigate the technological trajectory it could follow, along with an institutional architecture compatible with its development. We acknowledge throughout that this is a challenging but realistic system transition.