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Energy justice for members only? A study of German energy cooperatives’ contributions to energy justice

Miller, Juliane Marie LU (2022) In Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science MESM02 20221
LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)
Abstract
Energy cooperatives are seen as a way to achieve energy democracy in both academic and activist circles, with often an implicit expectation that they also contribute to energy justice. These assumptions are increasingly being questioned, often on the grounds of the limited diversity of energy cooperative membership. I conducted semi-structured interviews with four German energy cooperatives in order to investigate the extent and conditions under which energy cooperatives can contribute to energy justice. Applying the principles of energy justice outlined by Sovacool et al.(2017) as a framework, my findings indicate that while energy cooperatives make a variety of contributions to energy justice that benefit people beyond their immediate... (More)
Energy cooperatives are seen as a way to achieve energy democracy in both academic and activist circles, with often an implicit expectation that they also contribute to energy justice. These assumptions are increasingly being questioned, often on the grounds of the limited diversity of energy cooperative membership. I conducted semi-structured interviews with four German energy cooperatives in order to investigate the extent and conditions under which energy cooperatives can contribute to energy justice. Applying the principles of energy justice outlined by Sovacool et al.(2017) as a framework, my findings indicate that while energy cooperatives make a variety of contributions to energy justice that benefit people beyond their immediate membership, it is especially in the field of distributional and procedural justice that mainly their members benefit. Furthermore, the ability to contribute to energy justice can at times be constrained by a lack of capacities and well as inadequate policy measures. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Miller, Juliane Marie LU
supervisor
organization
course
MESM02 20221
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
energy democracy, energy poverty, community energy, prosumption, sustainability science
publication/series
Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science
report number
2022:024
language
English
id
9085302
date added to LUP
2022-06-10 09:07:42
date last changed
2022-06-10 09:07:42
@misc{9085302,
  abstract     = {{Energy cooperatives are seen as a way to achieve energy democracy in both academic and activist circles, with often an implicit expectation that they also contribute to energy justice. These assumptions are increasingly being questioned, often on the grounds of the limited diversity of energy cooperative membership. I conducted semi-structured interviews with four German energy cooperatives in order to investigate the extent and conditions under which energy cooperatives can contribute to energy justice. Applying the principles of energy justice outlined by Sovacool et al.(2017) as a framework, my findings indicate that while energy cooperatives make a variety of contributions to energy justice that benefit people beyond their immediate membership, it is especially in the field of distributional and procedural justice that mainly their members benefit. Furthermore, the ability to contribute to energy justice can at times be constrained by a lack of capacities and well as inadequate policy measures.}},
  author       = {{Miller, Juliane Marie}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science}},
  title        = {{Energy justice for members only? A study of German energy cooperatives’ contributions to energy justice}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}