Challenges in accelerating net-zero transitions

Insights from transport electrification in Germany and California

Bibliographic Data

ID15548475
AuthorsKaroline S Rogge (0000-0001-7573-6256, University of Sussex, corresponding author), Nicholas Goedeking (0000-0003-3859-9752, University of Sussex)
Year2024
Volume19
Issue4
Pages044007-044007
Publication date2024-02-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironmental Research Letters (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326
PublisherIOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1088/1748-9326/ad2d84
OpenAlexW4392187157
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited45

Addressing the climate crisis necessitates accelerating transitions towards climate-neutral systems of production and consumption, with electrification emerging as a crucial decarbonisation strategy. The acceleration of such net-zero transitions across multiple systems faces significant resistance and contestation. In this paper, we propose an extended list of challenges unique to the acceleration phase of socio-technical transitions: we introduce ‘expansion and contestation’, ‘justice’, and ‘international dynamics’ as additional challenge types to complement the already acknowledged challenge types of ‘whole systems change’, ‘interaction between multiple systems’, ‘decline and resistance’, ‘consumers and social practices’, and ‘governance’. We apply this extended analytical framework to the electrification of private-passenger vehicles and investigate the unfolding transition to e-mobility with evidence from 35 expert interviews in Germany and California. We uncover over 50 real-world challenges associated with these net-zero transitions at the beginning of the acceleration phase. Most challenges fall within the categories of ‘expansion and contestation’ and ‘governance’. While Germany and California share many real-world challenges, we also find significant variation between both jurisdictions, which we attribute to differences in their automotive incumbency, transition governance approaches, and institutional contexts. We discuss implications for future research, arguing for greater attention to the dual politics of acceleration during net-zero transitions: political conflict not only centres around the decline of old industries and future losses, but also around the expansion of the new system and associated future gains

Economics · Electrical engineering · Electricity · Electrification · Geometry · Natural resource economics · Net (polyhedron · Physics · Quantum mechanics · Zero (linguistics · Zero emission · Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure · Engineering · Environmental Science · Green IT and Sustainability · Integrated Energy Systems Optimization · Mathematics

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