Chapter 2 Making Sense of Changing Concepts for the Energy Transition
An Energy Transition Concepts Nexus for the Development of Policy and Law
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Abstract
Concepts such as energy democracy, energy justice, just transition and soft energy path have been used in the past or are currently being used either to qualify and organize existing energy initiatives or to influence today’s energy transition towards renewable energy sources. They all have similarities and differences but authors often struggle to agree on common definitions of them. They also sometimes become buzzwords and new ones are constantly being suggested and added to the plethora of concepts already in existence. This situation risks bringing further uncertainty and instability to the development of policy and law for the energy transition.
This chapter builds on a literature review covering 40 years of concepts relating to the energy transition in order to identify generally accepted definitions and components and link them with each other and with law. The chapter sets out an energy transition concepts nexus table, which allows for comparison between these different concepts and represents a tool for assessing projected or extant policies and laws in the energy transition. Finally, it presents some conclusions and new avenues for research.