Decarbonising Electricity: a Comparison in Socio-ecological Relations

Since the 2015 UN Paris Agreement most of the world's governments are committed to 'nationally-determined' targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Decarbonisation of electricity and the shift to renewables is critical to meeting these targets. To achieve this, renewable energy must have the widest social legitimacy. This project uses ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. It focuses on regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition’ in Germany, India and Australia, conducting in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for (and against) emission reduction.