Path-Dependencies of Carbon Lock-In Shaping Coal Phase-Out in Poland’s Electricity Sector: A Herculean Task of Decarbonization?

2020 ◽  
pp. 341-368
Author(s):  
Maksymilian Zoll
Keyword(s):  
Electricity Sector ◽  
Path Dependencies ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Phase Out

Interoperability – Technical or economic challenge?

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 243-252
Author(s):  
Lars Stegemann ◽  
Martin Gersch
Keyword(s):  
Network Effects ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Path Dependencies ◽  
Industry Standards ◽  
Indirect Network Effects ◽  
International Industry ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Lock In

Abstract Interoperability in healthcare is a long-standing and addressed phenomenon. In the literature, it is discussed as both the cause of an insufficiently perceived digitalization and in context with an inadequate IT-based integration in healthcare. In particular, technical and organizational aspects are highlighted from the perspective of the different involved actors to achieve sufficient interoperability. Depending on the individual case, various established international industry standards in healthcare (e. g. DICOM, HL7 or FHIR) promise simple adaptation and various application advantages. In addition to the technical view, this article assumes economic challenges as the main causes for the lack of interoperability not discussed in the forefront. The economic challenges were mentioned and sparingly discussed in few cases in the literature. This article aims to fill this gap by offering a first characterization of identified and discussed economic challenges in the literature with respect to the lack of interoperability in healthcare. Based on a systematic literature search, 14 of the original 330 articles can be identified as relevant, allowing a more economic perspective on interoperability. In this context, different economic effects will be described; this includes cost-benefit decisions by individual stakeholders under different kinds of uncertainty or balancing of known individual costs for interoperability against uncertain and skewed distributed benefits within an ecosystem. Furthermore, more sophisticated cost-benefit approaches regarding interoperability challenges can be identified, including cost-benefit ratios that shift over time, or lock-in effects resulting from CRM-motivated measures that turn (non)interoperability decisions into cost considerations for single actors. Also, self-reinforcing effects through path dependencies, including direct and indirect network effects, have an impact on single and linked interoperability decisions.

North American Leaders' Summit boosts climate efforts

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Power Transmission ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Energy Companies ◽  
Phase Out ◽  
Political Alignment ◽  
Visa Requirement

Significance As the 2016 US presidential cycle sparks fears of regional disintegration and protectionist trade policy, the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States seek to leverage their political alignment and lock in areas of North American cooperation before US President Barack Obama leaves office in January 2017. Impacts The pending legalisation of marijuana in Canada and Mexico may lead to security problems at the US border. While backsliding is possible, energy companies will suffer from the fossil fuel subsidy phase-out planned for 2025. Canada's lifting of the visa requirement for Mexican nationals may lead to an uptick in asylum claims. Renewable energy will receive a boost from cross-border power transmission, facilitating its growth and development.

Conclusion: a practical politics of the Anthropocene

2018 ◽  
pp. 151-162
Author(s):  
John S. Dryzek ◽  
Jonathan Pickering
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Path Dependencies ◽  
Ecological Problems ◽  
Practical Politics ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Carbon Economy

How exactly might ecological reflexivity be established as a core priority of social, economic, and political institutions? Rather than think in terms of any model to aim for, it is better to begin with where we are now and figure out positive moves on many fronts. Living frameworks—embodied in institutions that are flexible enough to respond to changing social and ecological conditions but stable enough to provide a basis for long-term flourishing—can facilitate such efforts. A practical politics of the Anthropocene can involve dismantling aspects of lock-in to the carbon economy and other unsustainable practices, avoiding renewed lock-in that could arise through misguided efforts to solve ecological problems, and cultivating elements of reflexivity through institutional, legal, and cultural change. Introducing elements of reflexivity—and learning from them—can facilitate more effective rethinking of dominant institutions and their pathological path dependencies, and build momentum for transformative change.

Wielding Power in the Capital

Mapping Power ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 72-92
Author(s):  
Megha Kaladharan
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Electricity Sector ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Face ◽  
Political Advantage ◽  
Federal Politics ◽  
The Government ◽  
Publicly Supported ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Financial Pressures

Delhi’s electricity sector represents a case of privatization in the face of electoral populism. Publicly-supported privatization-based reform, introduced by the Congress government, yielded some service quality gains to customers and political advantage to the government. However, these reforms also sowed the seeds of future discontent by introducing tension between the credibility of reforms and that of the regulator. Reforms became politically unpopular, as the public was mobilized to protest tariff hikes and question the gains from reform. Moreover, financial pressures rose as a result of two forces: growing regulatory assets allowed by the regulator as a way of staving off tariff increases and increases in power purchase costs due to imprudent contract lock-in. A new AAP in government sought consumer gains through transparency-focused reform along with targeted subsidies, but this fell afoul of Delhi’s federal politics. Reform allowed Delhi to change the equation between politics and electricity, but not in a manner that was sustainable.

scholarly journals Competing socio-technical narratives in times of grid capacity challenges: the representative case of Sweden

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frans Libertson
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Power Production ◽  
Electricity Sector ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Electricity System ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Many ◽  
Electricity Shortage ◽  
Lock In

Abstract Background Around the globe the electricity sector is strikingly similar, as regardless of nation it is structured around centralized large-scale power production. However, these centralized systems are currently experiencing operational problems related to climate change, energy security and aging grid infrastructures. In Sweden, the lack of investment and maintenance of the grid have created bottlenecks in certain regions, which are now facing an electricity shortage. This capacity crisis has received the attention of the media and generated a debate around the future trajectory of the electricity system. Results The purpose of this study is to analyze the ongoing media discourse in Sweden to determine whether there is a dominant narrative in the debate and its potential implications. The findings indicate that the government is unanimously held accountable for the electricity shortage and that there is a strong inclination toward a centralized electricity system as a solution. Conclusion The results indicate that the dominating centralized narrative, should it receive too much traction, might create a technological lock-in and result in overlooking the many advantages of a decentralized electricity system. Ultimately, this might give rise to an outdated electricity system that stalls its transformation toward a more sustainable path.

scholarly journals The European Union as a Security Actor in the Sahel

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 382-412
Author(s):  
Friedrich Plank ◽  
Julian Bergmann
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Path Dependencies ◽  
Security Actor ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Strong Path ◽  
The Eu

Abstract In the past decade, the EU has significantly stepped up its profile as a security actor in the Sahel. Drawing on historical institutionalism, we conceptualise path-dependencies and lock-in effects as elements of a “foreign policy entrapment” spiral to analyse the EU’s policies towards the Sahel. Specifically, we seek to explain the EU’s increasingly widened and deepened engagement in the region. Hence, this article traces the evolution of the EU’s Sahel policy both in discourse and implementation. We identify a predominant security narrative as well as a regionalisation narrative and show that EU action has followed these narratives. Based on this analysis, we argue that the evolution of the EU’s Sahel policy can be understood as a case of “foreign policy entrapment”. Initial decisions on the overall direction of EU foreign policy have created strong path-dependencies and lock-in effects that make it difficult for EU policy-makers to change the policy course.

Transitioning to a Lower Carbon Future

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Bankes
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Electricity Market ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Electricity Sector ◽  
Energy Efficiency Policy ◽  
International Commitments ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Capacity Market ◽  
Phase Out ◽  
Lower Carbon

This chapter discusses the legal and policy issues associated with adopting an aggressive transition to renewable and lower carbon fuels in Alberta’s electricity market. The chapter describes the evolution of Alberta’s electricity sector and restructuring that will involve the addition of a capacity market to supplement the existing energy only market. The chapter examines Canada’s international commitments with respect to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, coal phase-out, and developments in climate change and energy efficiency policy at both the federal level and for Alberta, which currently has a carbon-intensive energy mix. The chapter then presents Alberta’s current climate change policy and the Climate Leadership Plan, focussing on the implications of this policy for the electricity sector and for market design within that sector.

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