CSOC 21A00 - Energy transitions and society.

When talking about energy, we mostly refer to energy technologies, energy sources, resource management, supply and demand and market and prices. Doing so, we also often overlook that energy is also a societal issue. Energy is a key element in our daily life although most citizens are not aware of it in western societies. Everybody is switching light on and off, is connected to the internet without even wondering where the energy comes from or how much it costs. Citizens start to consider energy from a different perspective as soon as paying the energy bill becomes a struggle. Even if western societies consider energy for granted, in developing countries, having access to energy is far from being ensured to all. The crucial role of energy in our life was very well illustrated during the COVID-19 crisis. The outbreak of the pandemic led governments to impose lockdowns and to force billions of people throughout the world to stay home. As a result, households have become fully dependent on the quality of their homes and the availability of adequate and affordable energy services. But how do you live, work, study, stay healthy at home if you can’t cover your energy needs because of financial issues, lack of quality of homes, unaffordable prices of energy, lack of access to energy etc.? The current crisis illustrates how strongly society and energy are intertwined. The changes currently affecting energy systems are attracting strong political and social interests among others. The current transformation of energy systems towards more decentralised, more decarbonised and more digitalized energy systems can represent both a challenge for societies to change their energy consumption behaviour, to accept new low carbon energy production units closer to the place where they live but also an opportunity for energy users to become actors of the energy transition and to empower people in the developing countries. This course will analyse how energy and society are interrelated. It aims at highlighting the role of energy in the development of capitalism, how national energy

systems are framed within a complex system of governance and deeply rooted dynamics of power relations. It will also focus on social attitudes towards technologies and consider what the EU Green Deal is aiming at when insisting on the fact that “no one should be left behind” in the current energy transition. Concepts of equity, access, justice, power, conflicts and social acceptance will be discussed. An online simulation game will conclude the course.