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Local Energy Autonomy. Spaces, Scales, Politics. Edition No. 1

  • Book

  • 400 Pages
  • May 2019
  • John Wiley and Sons Ltd
  • ID: 5186361

In recent years, interest for local energy production, supply and consumption has increased in academic and public debates. In particular, contemporary energy transition discourses and strategies often emphasize the search for increased local energy autonomy, a phrase which can refer to a diverse range of configurations, both in terms of the spaces and scales of the local territory considered and in terms of what is meant by energy autonomy.

This book explores policies, projects and processes aimed at increased local energy autonomy, with a particular focus on their spatial, infrastructural and political dimensions. In doing so, the authors - Sabine Barles, Bruno Barroca, Guilhem Blanchard, Benoit Boutaud, Arwen Colell, Gilles Debizet, Ariane Debourdeau, Laure Dobigny, Florian Dupont, Zélia Hampikian, Sylvy Jaglin, Allan Jones, Raphael Ménard, Alain Nadaï, Angela Pohlmann, Cyril Roger-Lacan, Eric Vidalenc - improve our understanding of the always partial and controversial processes of energy relocation that articulate forms of local metabolic self-sufficiency, socio-technical decentralization and political empowerment.

Comprising fifteen chapters, the book is divided into four parts: Governance and Actors; Urban Projects and Energy Systems; Energy Communities; and The Challenges of Energy Autonomy.

Table of Contents

Foreword xiii

Introduction xv
Fanny LOPEZ, Margot PELLEGRINO and Olivier COUTARD

Part 1. Governance and Actors 1

Chapter 1. Urban Planning and Energy: New Relationships, New Local Governance 3
Cyril ROGER-LACAN

1.1. Distributed energy: the constant adaptation of urban areas 4

1.2. “Sustainable cities” and new energy systems: from harmonization to a common origin 9

1.3. Reshaping local governance 12

1.4. References 17

Chapter 2. Decentralized Energy and Cities: Tools and Levers for Urban Energy Decentralization 19
Allan JONES MBE

2.1. Introduction 19

2.2. Background 20

2.3. Woking, UK 20

2.4. London, UK 22

2.5. Sydney, Australia 24

2.5.1. Background 24

2.5.2. Sustainable Sydney 2030 25

2.5.3. Green Infrastructure Plan 26

2.5.4. Trigeneration Master Plan 26

2.5.5. Renewable Energy Master Plan 27

2.5.6. Advanced Waste Treatment Master Plan 29

2.5.7. CitySwitch Green Office Program 30

2.5.8. Better Buildings Partnership 31

2.5.9. Environmental Upgrade Agreements 31

2.5.10. City of Sydney Projects 33

2.5.11. Carbon-neutral Sydney 34

2.5.12. Conclusion 35

2.6. Seoul, South Korea 37

2.6.1. Background 37

2.6.2. Fukushima nuclear disaster 37

2.6.3. One Less Nuclear Power Plant 38

2.6.4. Seoul International Energy Advisory Council 39

2.6.5. International Energy Advisory Council 40

2.6.6. One Less Nuclear Power Plant, Phase 2 - Seoul Sustainable Energy Action Plan 40

2.6.7. Seoul Energy Corporation 41

2.6.8. Interregional cooperation 43

2.6.9. Conclusion 43

2.7. Overall conclusions 44

2.8. References 46

Chapter 3. The Third Industrial Revolution in Hauts-de-France: Moving Toward Energy Autonomy? 47
Eric VIDALENC

3.1. The industrial revolutions in the region 48

3.1.1. The cornerstones of the first industrial revolution 48

3.1.2. The successors of the second industrial revolution: the automotive industry and electricity 50

3.2. The TIR’s resources in Hauts-de-France 54

3.2.1. An expanded view of some of the local expertise 55

3.2.2. The basis of local ecosystems 55

3.2.3. Strong political backing 56

3.2.4. The expansion of the TRI/REV3 brand 57

3.2.5. Multiple financial tools 57

3.2.6. Subregional territorialization: energy subsidiarity 58

3.2.7. Network managers are changing their views 59

3.3. Initial assessments and analyses 60

3.3.1. Late, but still a strong objective 60

3.3.2. An update on the TRI/REV3 trajectories 61

3.3.3. A techno-centered vision 63

3.3.4. Tensions regarding the priorities and temporalities 64

3.3.5. From solidarity to regional autonomy through energy subsidiarity 65

3.4. References 67

Chapter 4. Rethinking Reliability and Solidarity through the Prism of Interconnected Autonomies 69
Gilles DEBIZET

4.1. Introduction 69

4.2. Four prospective scenarios for urbanized spaces 71

4.2.1. Large companies 72

4.2.2. Local authorities 72

4.2.3. Cooperative stakeholders 73

4.2.4. Regulating state 74

4.3. Intermediaries with new energy autonomies 75

4.3.1. Energy storage as an essential factor of autonomy 75

4.3.2. Energy autonomies as organizations 76

4.3.3. A combination of different energy scenarios according to the regions 77

4.4. A variety of decision-making scales relating to energy infrastructure 77

4.4.1. The country and the continent 78

4.4.2. Housing 78

4.4.3. The building 78

4.4.4. The district 79

4.4.5. The city or metropolis 79

4.5. Conclusion: solidarities must be reinvented in the era of connected energy autonomies 80

4.6. Acknowledgments 82

4.7. References 82

Part 2. Urban Projects and Energy Systems 85

Chapter 5. Critical Densities of Energy Self-sufficiency and Carbon Neutrality 87
Raphael MÉNARD

5.1. Introduction 87

5.1.1. What can environmental measures be related to? 89

5.1.2. Critical densities and catchment areas 91

5.2. Energy consumption density 92

5.2.1. Differences regarding the 2,000 watts 92

5.2.2 0.1 watts per square meter as average for mainland France 94

5.3. Renewable energy production density 97

5.3.1. Renewable energy production is Eulerian 97

5.3.2. Energy harvesting plans 98

5.3.3. Quantification of the production flow of a region 99

5.4. Self-sufficiency, convergence: 1-W regions 100

5.4.1. The 7 hectares, surface area per person in the world garden 100

5.4.2. The story of urban transition in cities 101

5.4.3. The fundamental equality of self-sufficiency 107

5.4.4. Some self-sufficiency paths according to density 108

5.5. Emission density and carbon neutrality 110

5.5.1. Post-COP21 and carbon neutrality 110

5.5.2. Equivalent emission densities 112

5.5.3. Carbon sequestration density 112

5.5.4. The fundamental equation of carbon neutrality 113

5.6. Conclusion 113

5.6.1. Continent-sea balance 113

5.6.2. The city-countryside dichotomy 114

5.6.3. The city, an energy-carbon monster 114

5.6.4. The mathematics of density, relocating according to the right proportions 115

5.6.5. The scales in question 116

5.7. References 117

Chapter 6. What Autonomy is Available in the Design of Energy Solutions within French Urban Development Projects? The Example of District Heating 119
Guilhem BLANCHARD

6.1. Introduction 119

6.2. Urban heating within development projects: an opportunity for local monitoring of the energy system 121

6.2.1. Windows of opportunity for local players 121

6.2.2. Urban development and district heating projects still remain subject to numerous external constraints 124

6.3. The decision-based autonomy of urban heating projects from the perspective of urban development projects’ technical management 127

6.3.1. Design of the supply infrastructure: a weakly structured coordination between design arenas 129

6.3.2. Coordination of supply and demand: an even more significant division 132

6.4. Conclusions and final thoughts 135

6.5. References 137

Chapter 7. Positive Energy and Networks: Local Energy Autonomy as a Vector for Controlling Flows 141
Zélia HAMPIKIAN

7.1. Positive energy, autonomy and flow dynamics 142

7.2. The case of Lyon confluence and the Hikari block: a rhetoric of mutualization for achieving partial self-sufficiency 145

7.3. The “right” scale of autonomy and control over flows 150

7.4. From autonomy to flow management: who is in charge? 155

7.5. Conclusion 160

7.6. References 161

Chapter 8. From Energy Self-sufficiency to Trans-scalar Energy 163
Florian DUPONT

8.1. Self-sufficiency or sharing of the heat supply 164

8.1.1. Four examples of scale jumping that question self-sufficiency 164

8.1.2. Assess the strategic contribution of each operation to the networks 170

8.2. Redefining the goal of self-sufficiency 171

8.2.1. Using the cost-benefit analysis? 171

8.2.2. Using a new financial paradigm including the old one? 174

8.2.3. First achievement: 1,000 trees 174

8.2.4. From self-sufficiency to synergies 175

8.3. The importance of strategic planning using project levers 175

8.3.1. Electricity networks redefine their mesh 177

8.3.2. Liège: valorizing the electrical infrastructures of the industrial valley 177

8.3.3. Mains gas seeks its revival 178

8.3.4. From data to planning: cities think about energy 179

8.4. Conclusion 181

Part 3. Energy Communities 183

Chapter 9. Sociotechnical Morphologies of Rural Energy Autonomy in Germany, Austria and France 185
Laure DOBIGNY

9.1. Introduction 185

9.2. Technical choices and autonomy processes 187

9.3. Actors of local energy autonomy 190

9.4. Spatial and autonomy temporalities 195

9.4.1. Bringing the relevant techniques into existence 195

9.4.2. Social and geographical morphologies 196

9.4.3. The influence of regulatory and legislative frameworks 200

9.4.4. The role of energy policies and political structures 201

9.4.5. Pioneer towns: “was it easier before?” 203

9.5. From the construction to the transferability of “models” of autonomy: what impasses and issue are there? 206

9.6. References 210

Chapter 10. Community Energy Projects Redefining Energy Distribution Systems: Examples from Berlin and Hamburg 213
Arwen Dora COLELL and Angela POHLMANN

10.1. Introduction 213

10.1.1. Rethinking networked infrastructures beyond “public versus private” 214

10.1.2. Citizens claiming networked infrastructures in Germany’s largest cities 214

10.2. Situational analyses of urban energy system transformation 216

10.3. People have the power? Citizens claiming energy infrastructure 217

10.3.1. (Re)negotiating infrastructures of decision-making on the power grid: the case of BEB 217

10.3.2. From protest to empowerment: civil society engagement in Hamburg’s energy distribution systems 223

10.4. Discussion: reconfiguring the social in sociotechnical? 228

10.5. Conclusion 229

10.6. References 231

Chapter 11. Autonomy and Energy Community: Realities to Reconsider? 239
Ariane DEBOURDEAU and Alain NADAÏ

11.1. Introduction 239

11.2. Mapping and genealogy of energy community approaches 242

11.2.1. Technological element: innovation at the heart of energy communities 245

11.2.2. The collective element: which communitie(s) favor energy issues? 246

11.2.3. Institutional element: framing and empowering communities 246

11.2.4. Discussion 248

11.3. Scope and limits of existing works 249

11.3.1. A high presence of instrumental and normative approaches 249

11.3.2. The singularity of English language “critical localism” 252

11.3.3. The locational nature of analytical frameworks 253

11.3.4. The minimalist and shifting contents for the notion of community 253

11.3.5. Discussion 260

11.4. Conclusion 263

11.5. References 265

Part 4. The Challenges of Energy Autonomy 271

Chapter 12. Regional Energy Self-sufficiency: a Legal Issue 273
Benoit BOUTAUD

12.1. Self-sufficiency analyzed through the prism of the territory 274

12.1.1. A reality far from clichés 274

12.1.2. Going beyond the productive aspect 278

12.2. Regional energy self-sufficiency: a legal issue 281

12.2.1. Municipalities that become legally self-sufficient 281

12.2.2. The energy self-sufficiency of municipalities: an organizational challenge 283

12.3. Conclusion 287

12.4. References 288

Chapter 13. Electricity Autonomy and Power Grids in Africa: from Rural Experiments to Urban Hybridizations 291
Sylvy JAGLIN

13.1. Introduction 291

13.2. From the “crisis” to electrical experiments 294

13.2.1. Electric disasters and riots 295

13.2.2. Huge investment needs 296

13.2.3. Renewables and decentralized systems: a third way for sub-Saharan Africa? 298

13.3. Electrical hybridizations between pragmatic autonomy and new dependencies 299

13.3.1. Rural experiments 300

13.3.2. ... and urban hybridizations 303

13.3.3. Off-grid under constraints 305

13.4. Conclusion 309

13.5. References 310

Chapter 14. Energy Self-sufficiency: an Ambition or a Condition for Urban Resilience? 315
Bruno BARROCA

14.1. Introduction 315

14.2. A matter of definitions 316

14.3. Technical systems and resilience 319

14.4. Self-sufficiency and functional resilience 321

14.4.1. Functional resilience and system modeling 321

14.4.2. Can self-sufficiency be achieved by managing failures of technical systems? 322

14.5. Self-sufficiency and the meta-system: toward spatial resilience? 324

14.5.1. Meta population, meta-system and self-sufficiency 324

14.6. Conclusion 327

14.7. References 327

Chapter 15. Urban Metabolic Self-sufficiency: an Oxymoron or a Challenge? 331
Sabine BARLES

15.1. Introduction 331

15.2. Energy and matter: urban metabolism 332

15.3. The city and its hinterlands: the lack of physical autonomy 335

15.4. Decision-making self-sufficiency: a challenge? 341

15.5. Conclusion 346

15.6. References 347

List of Authors 351

Index 353

Authors

Fanny Lopez Margot Pellegrino Olivier Coutard