Changing the energy system

摘要

Frank N. Laird's "A Full-Court Press for Renewable Energy" (Issues, Winter 2009) offers a valuable addition to the debate on energy system change, broadening it beyond its too-frequent sole focus on questions of technology development and pricing. Laird rightly points out that energy systems are, in reality, sociotechnical systems deeply interconnected with a wide range of social, political, and economic arrangements in society. As Laird suggests, these broader social and institutional dimensions of energy systems demand as much attention as technology and pricing if societies are going to successfully bring about large-scale system change in the energy sector. Failure to adequately address them could stifle energy system innovation and transformation.