Geographies of energy transition: Space, place and the low-carbon economy

Bridge, G.; Bouzarovski, S.; Bradshaw, M.; Eyre, N.

Abstract

This paper makes a case for examining energy transition as a geographical process, involving the reconfiguration of current patterns and scales of economic and social activity. The paper draws on a seminar series on the ‘Geographies of Energy Transition: security, climate, governance' hosted by the authors between 2009 and 2011, which initiated a dialogue between energy studies and the discipline of human geography. Focussing on the UK Government's policy for a low carbon transition, the paper provides a conceptual language with which to describe and assess the geographical implications of a transition towards low carbon energy. Six concepts are introduced and explained: location, landscape, territoriality, spatial differentiation, scaling, and spatial embeddedness. Examples illustrate how the geographies of a future low-carbon economy are not yet determined and that a range of divergent – and contending – potential geographical futures are in play. More attention to the spaces and places that transition to a low-carbon economy will produce can help better understand what living in a low-carbon economy will be like. It also provides a way to help evaluate the choices and pathways available.

Citation

Bridge, G., Bouzarovski, S., Bradshaw, M., & Eyre, N. (2013). Geographies of energy transition: Space, place and the low-carbon economy. Energy Policy, 53, 331-340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.066

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Jul 26, 2013
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 13, 2015
• Journal: Energy Policy
• Print ISSN: 0301-4215
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 53
• Pages: 331-340
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.066
• Keywords: Geography, Transition, Low-carbon
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1452429