Workshop Transversal Group City & Energy LabEx Urban Futures Champs-sur-Marne, 2019 Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties Expertises and Transactions, Four Case Studies in North East France Philippe Hamman Institute for Urbanism and Regional Development Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Strasbourg Laboratory SAGE (Societies, Actors and Government in Europe, UMR 7363)
Introduction Outline of the presentation: 1. Theoretical framework: Sustainability and energy transition 2. Citizen wind power in rural areas: the example of Saâles 3. Two contrasting urban sites in Strasbourg 4. Towards a normalization of inhabitant participation? Energy transition and social housing Conclusion
Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties 1. Theoretical framework: sustainability & energy transition 1.1 Sustainability: consensus or conundrum? - Sustainability combines economic, ecological and social concerns: this implies necessary transactions and compromise. - « Sustainable development »: transaction or oxymoron? • Was presented as the alternative to unbridled economic growth (Brundtland Report-1987, Rio Earth Summit-1992) • Is part of a priori assumptions defining a « politics of consensus » (Jacques Rancière, 1998): who could claim to disagree with the concern shown to the future of our planet, threatened by global warning, natural disaster and « global » hazards? • Was popular in the 1990s-2000s: reframing of public policies; concept used on different scales (European cities, Aalborg European Charter, 1994).
Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties This apparent consensus conceals numerous disagreements on the type of future envisioned, even as these conceptions are used today as legitimizing arguments: - The 2007-2008 global economic crisis exposed the fault lines in the apparent consensus on sustainability: today, technological and economic principles are often opposed to ecological and social ones. - Does sustainability mean breaking with the prevailing vision of economic growth as synonymous with progress (=degrowth), in a world in which resources are limited and in which human activities inexorably link to resource depletion? - Or can science and technology lead to the emergence of new « sustainable » models of economic growth (« green growth », « smart cities »…?)
Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties 1.2 From sustainability to (energy) transition - The notion of « transition » is often coupled with reference to the energy sector → shows how important climate issues have become in sustainability policies (whatever their scale). - Procedural issues are raised: how change is organized and governed (≠ clean break with the past) → more widely shows that SD includes procedural and not only substantive (three pillars) elements: democracy and participation… - Energy transition = the set of changes that need to be effected in our ways of producing, consuming and thinking energy. - A transactional perspective , based on the dialectical relation between adaptation/disruption : transactions founded on patterns of continuity (ex.: speed limitation but primacy of cars, i.e. use of fossil energy, unchallenged, etc.) versus patterns of disruption (ex.: bikes) → Transition does not merely consist in technological change but raises truly political issues.
Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties 1.3 Social frames for thinking « energy transitions »: = Linking three levels of analysis (and interests involved) together 1. The different energy industries ➔ The social dimension of technological processes: the adoption of specific energy systems and energy sources entails political, economic, social and local consequences. Ex.: civilian nuclear energy in France. 2. Content ➔ There is a multiplicity of possible conceptions and orientations. Ex.: France and Germany took different views of civilian nuclear power after Fukushima; + what energy « mix » is chosen. 3. Uses and degrees of appropriation ➔ How do « common » citizens relate to energy transition? What possible strategies can be used to ensure effective participation in a Renewable Energy project?
Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties 1.4 Energy Transition: a multilevel process 1. The role of the market • Technological innovations help develop new energy industries (ex.: pholtovoltaic solar energy); permanence of a centralized model (leading energy companies). 2. Citizen regulation • The quest for self-sufficiency, outside the energy industry • Social perspectives on the energy transition, and reflections on ways of life (energy- efficient…). 3. Hybrid processes on the local scale: Transactions: Hybrid energy systems both inspired by: • the cooperative movement (decentralization). • a centralized model (the locally produced energy is distributed through the existing, centralized network).
Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties 2. Citizen wind power in rural areas: the example of Saâles A middle mountain commune 829 inhab. in 2016 (880 in 2009) Underprivileged area: 15-64 yrs old unemployment rate: 17,5% in 2015 Compared to 10% in the Alsace region. Level of education : 41,1% have no diploma 34,7% hold secondary-level vocational degrees (CAP, BEP) Observations and interviews on site Photo: Amandine Léonate, Saâles, 2013
Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties Photo: Mairie de Saâles
Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties Photo: Mairie de Saâles
Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties 2.1. The wind energy program in Saâles Nature of the transaction: Through the creation of a semi-public company, two wind turbines, out of ten , have been bought by the community. ✓ The local authority owns 40% of the company ✓ Citizen shareholders: Citizens can purchase shares of the company, up to 60% Objectives: • Bringing inhabitants closer to the site of wind power production (they can buy shares in the energy company) • Stimulating citizen participation in energy transition • Introducing the idea that energy can be locally produced (even though it will fuel the centralized power grid)
Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties 2.2. Inhabitant participation as mere tokenism? - Specialized associations → the project is managed by experts. • Intervention of national and regional associations for the promotion of energy cooperatives: function as a network, not on a local scale • The inhabitants who would want to become shareholders are offered standardized « advice packages », also adapted to other projects + their participation was summed up in the purchasing of shares, thus depending on selective economic criteria. • The inhabitants are considered as a homogeneous, unchanging whole. - Citizen participation cannot be taken for granted : the inhabitants are not all interested in the process, or able to master the rules of the game. • Partial/ unclear ideas about the schemes : some think that the electricity produced is to be used for local needs (public lights, school…). • It is difficult for inhabitants/users without technical skills to fully master the schemes: the risk is that only the narrow circle of experts (elected representatives, technicians, members of specialized associations) who have designed them will play a role.
Methodology: Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties 3. Two contrasting urban sites in Strasbourg 1. Individual « green energy » producers: Plobsheim, a residential suburb close to Strasbourg Photo: commune de Plobsheim
Methodology: Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties 2. Installation of a cogeneration heating network in the social housing estate of Cité de l’Ill. Quantitative research questionnaires (over 300 exploitable questionnaires, 150 on each of the two sites) coupled with a dozen interviews of Photographie: the inhabitants. renovation, Cité de l’Ill, Saskia Tomsu
Methodology: Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties Contrasting socio-economic profiles: Distribution of the inhabitants of Cité de l’Ill and Plobsheim by socio-professional categories (RRP, 2010, INSEE)
Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties 3.1. An unequal technical mastery over energy systems On the whole, the declarative data do not show any significant gap in the residents ’ knowledge of the different types of renewable energy. Solar and wind energy have been widely promoted and are now well known among most social categories. Yet : There is a significant gap between Plobsheim and Cité de l’Ill when it comes to more technical terms (ex.: methanization) and when more precise questions are asked about the way energy processes and systems work.
Methodology: Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties Energy Transition, Sustainability and Social Ties 3.2. Acceptation of energy technologies by the residents Residents in Cité de l’Ill more often declared that they would accept the installation of Renewable Energy equipment in their field of vision from their neighborhood than residents in Plobsheim (who considered possible related nuisances?) Example: Wind turbines : 35% of the sample said they would ‘ certainly ’ accept them in Cité de l’Ill vs. less than 25% in Plobsheim.
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