New energies, autonomous territories?

Presentation

London, Aberdeen, Malmö, Germany, Japan... so many cases that illustrate the diversity of approaches chosen by local players to play a role in the transformation of energy systems. Drawing on geography, political science, history, architecture and law, this collective work illustrates the extent to which the liberalization of the energy sector not only in Europe, but also outside Europe, has led to a recomposition of partnerships between local public players, states and the private sector.
While the rise of renewable energies has not (yet?) given a new lease of life to the utopias of a totally autonomous habitat or territory, it has, on the other hand, opened up a wide range of possibilities for territories. Citizen projects, private initiatives and public strategies are all contributing to a renewal of practices and giving rise to innovations that are likely to affect the shape of towns and the economy of their territories, not forgetting the architectural production that is being called upon to re-found itself.

However, we may wonder. In a world based on exchange, circulation and networks, isn't the aspiration to energy autonomy an anachronism? Does the multiplicity of local innovations radically change the balance of power and power relations between states and local players? This question begs us to look at energy decentralization from different angles. Indeed, it is in the articulation between levels of governance and in the interaction between public and private players that the future of energy system transformation is being prepared.

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Interview

Director

Gilles Lepesant is a geographer, director of research at the CNRS, Centre Marc Bloch (Berlin) and associate researcher at the Asian Center for Energy Studies (Hong Kong). His work focuses on the changing geography of energy in Europe through the rise of renewable energies at the European, national and local scales, and on the industrial challenges of the energy transition.

223 pages
16 x 24 cm
Publication: 21/11/2018
ISBN: 9782858312771