From laggard to leader: explaining offshore wind developments in the UK

Offshore wind technology has recently undergone rapid deployment in the UK. And yet, up until recently, the UK was considered a laggard in terms of deploying renewable energy. How can this burst of offshore wind activity be explained? An economic analysis would seek signs for newfound competitiveness for offshore wind in energy markets. A policy analysis would highlight renewable energy policy developments and assess their contribution to economic prospects of offshore wind. However, neither perspective sheds sufficient light on the advocacy of the actors involved in the development and deployment of the technology. Without an account of technology politics it is hard to explain continuing policy support despite rising costs. By analysing the actor networks and narratives underpinning policy support for offshore wind, we explain how a fairly effective protective space was constructed through the enroling of key political and economic interests

The role of hydrogen and fuel cells in the global energy system

Hydrogen technologies have experienced cycles of excessive expectations followed by disillusion. Nonetheless, a growing body of evidence suggests these technologies form an attractive option for the deep decarb onisation of global energy systems, and that recent improvements in their cost and performance point towards economic viability as well. This paper is a comprehensive review of the potential role that hydrogen could play in the provision of electricity, h eat, industry, transport and energy storage in a low - carbon energy system, and an assessment of the status of hydrogen in being able to fulfil that potential. The picture that emerges is one of qualified promise: hydrogen is well established in certain nic hes such as forklift trucks, while mainstream applications are now forthcoming. Hydrogen vehicles are available commercially in several countries, and 225,000 fuel cell home heating systems have been sold. This represents a step change from the situation of only five years ago. This review shows that challenges around cost and performance remain, and considerable improvements are still required for hydrogen to become truly competitive. But such competitiveness in the medium - term future no longer seems an unrealistic prospect, which fully justifies the growing interest and policy support for these technologies around the world

Empowering sustainable niches: comparing UK and Dutch offshore wind developments

Offshore wind has been positioned as a promising technology that could play a major role in moving towards more sustainable energy systems, but deployment varies significantly across countries. This article aims to explain the contrast between the boom in the UK versus stagnation in The Netherlands, by analysing the niche empowerment dynamics building on Smith and Raven's (2012) distinction between ‘fit and conform’ and ‘stretch and transform’ strategies. Analysis focuses on the actor networks and the narratives they use to enrol support for the deployment of the technology. We conclude that because the narratives mobilised are quite similar in both cases, an explanation must lie with the actors. We argue that the UK's relative success is partly the result of the presence of a proactive ‘system builder’ in the form of the Crown Estate which plays a central role in powerful public–private actor networks around offshore wind. We also conclude that the Smith and Raven ‘protected space’ framework fails to capture how different national institutional settings shape the possibilities for empowering work of technology advocates as our analysis shows that despite the highly international nature of the offshore wind sector, attempts by multi-national companies result in different outcomes in different countries

Low-carbon innovation in non-domestic buildings: the importance of supply chain integration

Construction must play a major role in meeting climate change targets, but this will require major changes in industry practice. The sector will need to adopt innovative low-carbon technologies, integrate these within novel building designs and ensure these designs are constructed, implemented and optimised successfully. A likely precondition for this is greater levels of integration within the construction supply chain. While there is evidence that supply chain integration (SCI) can improve project performance and enable innovation, the literature rarely differentiates between different types of innovation and has paid little attention to low-carbon innovation. This paper synthesises insights from three different bodies of literature – construction innovation, low carbon buildings and SCI – to create a typology of low-carbon innovations in non-domestic buildings and to identify conditions and strategies for their successful implementation. It proposes that low-carbon innovations are ‘building-enhancing’ ‘integral’ and/or ‘user-dependent’ and their effective implementation requires collaboration, championing and user-involvement. The paper uses two case studies to illustrate the diversity of mechanisms through which these conditions can be realised. It concludes with some reflections on the methodological challenges of studying this topic, together with the wider implications of the proposed framework for industrial practice and public policy