Accountable Solar Energy TransitionS (ASSET)

The failure to rapidly cut emissions despite impending climate breakdown is undermining the legitimacy of the institutions that govern multi-scalar energy transitions. Accountability scholarship has focused on structural aspects of global and national governance, but neglected (i) informal contestation and power dynamics in sustainability transitions, and (ii) the sub-national scales where regional and local politics and priorities determine the political economy of low-carbon energy transitions. Through timely adaptation of established insights to rapid transitions beyond structuralist approaches, the project is establishing accountability analysis as a major methodology. It asks: How do accountability relations affect rapid energy transition? It is producing insights that can support the just, accountable governance of multi-scalar energy transitions in financially constrained contexts. The project advanced research at the intersection of accountability and energy transitions, using the rapid case of solar energy rollout. It applied an accountability analysis approach in a first-of-its-kind comparative multi-scalar design to study energy transitions governance. This advanced research on energy governance and informed policies for Accountable Solar Energy TransitionS (ASSET). It combined ethnographic methods with an explicitly comparative research design, and integrated informal practices into future energy governance research. Unlike most solar rollout studies that focus on first-mover states, ASSET studied financially constrained contexts: Portugal and Rajasthan. Another novel aspect was the choice of many multi-scalar solar rollout projects at quite diverse energy development levels, yet with sufficient similarities for analytical comparison. Thus, the project produced actionable knowledge on policies for just and rapid solar energy rollout and theorised the relationship between accountable governance and the impact of energy transitions.

ASSET generated insights on accountability relations in the governance of energy transitions. This methodological advance combined and applied two frameworks: (i) practices of legitimation and (ii) the accountability analysis matrix. This marked a first-of-its-kind comparative multi-scalar analysis of energy governance in terms of accountability to unpack the complex relations that drive non-linear change. These academic insights have (i) highlighted informal practices that modulate change, and (ii) identified how sanctions can enable rapid low-carbon transitions. Ethnographic research addressed a timely and relevant societal concern: how massive, rapid solar energy rollout can have just impacts in financially constrained contexts and at varied energy development levels. Such research enables contextualised pathways to achieve SDG7 (universal clean energy access) by giving rigorous evidence of how accountability relations condition outcomes during rapid energy transitions.

The failure to rapidly cut emissions despite impending climate breakdown is undermining the legitimacy of the institutions that govern multi-scalar energy transitions. Accountability scholarship has focused on structural aspects of global and national governance, but neglected (i) informal contestation and power dynamics in sustainability transitions, and (ii) the sub-national scales where regional and local politics and priorities determine the political economy of low-carbon energy transitions. Through timely adaptation of established insights to rapid transitions beyond structuralist approaches, the project seeks to establish accountability analysis as a major methodology. It asks: How do accountability relations affect rapid energy transition? It aims to produce insights that can support the just, accountable governance of multi-scalar energy transitions in financially constrained contexts. The project will advance research at the intersection of accountability and energy transitions, using the rapid case of solar energy rollout. It will apply an accountability analysis approach in a first-of-its-kind comparative multi-scalar design to study energy transitions governance. This will advance research on energy governance and inform policies for Accountable Solar Energy TransitionS (ASSET). It combines ethnographic methods with an explicitly comparative research design, and will integrate informal practices into future energy governance research. Unlike most solar rollout studies that focus on first-mover states, ASSET will study financially constrained contexts: Portugal and Rajasthan. Another novel aspect is the choice of many multi-scalar solar rollout projects at quite diverse energy development levels, yet with sufficient similarities for analytical comparison. Thus, the project will produce actionable knowledge on policies for just and rapid solar energy rollout and theorise the relationship between accountable governance and the impact of energy transitions.