Energy policy for energy sovereignty: Can policy tools enhance energy sovereignty?

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-15-2020

Department

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Department of Humanities; Department of Social Sciences; College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science; Great Lakes Research Center

Abstract

The concept of energy sovereignty redefines the priorities for decision making regarding energy systems while encouraging increased reliance on renewable energy technologies like solar. Energy sovereignty involves centering the inherent right of humans and communities to make decisions about the energy systems they use, including decisions about the sources, scales, and forms of ownership that structure energy access. Current U.S energy policy does not center concerns of energy sovereignty, and in many cases may work against it. Policies to enhance energy sovereignty can accelerate electricity decarbonization while also empowering community scale decision making and offering communities control to reduce the myriad externalities associated with the fossil-fuel energy system.

Publisher's Statement

© 2020 International Solar Energy Society. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2020.05.056

Publication Title

Solar Energy

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