The Role of Decentralised Energy in Delivering ‘Just Sustainability’ in Northern European Cities: A Review of Theory and Practice

There are a number of justifications for approaching sustainable energy issues at the urban scale with the main rationale focusing on population density resulting in concentrations of carbon emissions and therefore their suitability for neighbourhood and city-wide distributed generation of sustainable energy. As well as the potential this gives for cutting carbon emissions through a transition to a decarbonised energy system, the benefits of such an approach could also positively impact on redressing issues of social and environmental justice through the concept of ‘just sustainability’. This chapter is concerned with the role of decentralised urban energy systems and achieving just sustainability objectives in the northern European context. It argues that whilst existing approaches to planning for decentralised energy may be successful in achieving their ex-ante stated ‘sustainability’ objectives; they could achieve greater overall and long-term impact by developing objectives that deliver a broad just-sustainability agenda. The approach taken focuses on a review of policy and practice relating to decentralised urban energy systems in a north European context, and develops a typology of initiatives relative to sustainability objectives. This is further illustrated by case studies of two decentralised energy initiatives – one in north east Scotland and one in southern Sweden. The chapter concludes that there is a significant gap in the research linking technological solutions to sustainable energy supplies with the delivery of a sustainable and just society, and that further research is required to develop theory and praxis to deliver trans-generational resilience through a just transition to decarbonised, decentralised urban energy systems.