La «gente de mar» y el mercado laboral en la marina mercante

This literature review, as described in Section 2.1.1 above, was carried out to find information about ten concepts that form the parts of the transition process. However, throughout the review other issues, not initially considered in the early stages of the research, were identified. The second aim of this research (Section 1.2), is to identify transition pathways for the proliferation of DC voltage into the built environment. Transitioning from one system to another involves change. Before it is possible to implement the transition process, the initial system and the final system must be understood. This literature search considered previous work that would give more details about the components of the AC electrical system other than the basic topology of the physical electrical system. However, a full characterisation was not found. It was noted that since the electricity system is sociotechnical, there would be more to just changing technical aspects of the AC system in order to implement a DC home and office system. So while there is some understanding of the basic topology for the wiring of the DC system, no further details were given, including the social ramifications that a change to DC voltage may cause.

The many non-technical/socio aspects of the AC system are well presented in the literature, not as part of a full characterisation of the system, but as standalone concepts. Therefore, they will have to be identified for the transition process. The literature was then used to identify

54 groups that became the different social and technical networks that characterise the electricity system.

The concept of centralised systems and distributed systems was explored, and many advantages of the distributed system were highlighted. Some of the societal aspects of electricity that are connected to city resilience and disaster management were used to show the vulnerability to modern liveability and lifestyle by the long term loss of electricity. It was concluded that there is a lack of focus within these fields (Kinn and Abbott, 2014), including the top-down approach used by engineers to deal with modern energy and electricity issues. The GEA states (p. 13):

“Building-integrated solar photovoltaics can contribute to meeting the electricity demand in buildings, especially in single-family homes, and solar water heaters can cover all or part of the heat required for hot water demand.” Based on the fact that, “Solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface amounts to 3.9 million EJ/yr and, as such, is almost 8000 times larger than the annual global energy needs of some 500 EJ. Accounting for cloud coverage and empirical irradiance

data, the local availability of solar energy is 633,000 EJ.” (GEA 2012, p. 47).

Given this statistic, this research postulates that even in the UK distributed solar systems can help to fulfil its global energy challenges, especially when integrated into domestic DC voltage dwellings.

There are a set of complex technical and social issues in the extant AC system and therefore, much room for potential failure of the transition. The transition is a very complicated problem, that could be said to have the nature of what is called a “wicked problem”

(Edgeman, 2015). Therefore, there is a need for a theoretical framework that will help us frame the problem and understand how the transition could take place. This is discussed in the next chapter.

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Sociotechnical transition theory

The electrical system has been identified as sociotechnical (section 1.3.1), thus incorporating elements in its many of its constituent parts that are not solely technical. These include networks of actors, rules, standards laws etc. (see Figure 3.6 below). It has also been noted that this transition is therefore complex and could be classified as a wicked problem. Therefore, developing a framework to help in the understanding of how the transition could take place is important for a successful transition. In this chapter, a sociotechnical theory will be chosen and a theoretical model will be developed. Some gaps within the understanding of the regime and the landscape of the MLP (Section 3.4) will be identified. A conundrum within energy transitions is identified (Section 3.5). An attempt is made to address these gaps by further understanding aspects of the sociotechnical regime (Section 3.5.2), landscape (Section 3.5.3), the importance of the carbon debate (Section 3.5.4) and windows of opportunity (Section 3.5.5).

3.1. Choosing a theoretical framework – the Multilevel Perspective

The criteria for choosing an underlying theory was that; it had to be able to identify how humans interact with the electrical system, how events outside the electrical system may affect a transition, and how the new DC voltage topology for electrical systems would be able to proliferate and become a major player in the provision of electrical energy, i.e. it had to provide a way of being able to understand how a sociotechnical transition could take place. Changes to the energy system are driven from one side by changes of the technology and on the other side by economic, ecological, cultural etc. forces.

“Transformations in energy systems are long-term change processes (decadal or

longer) in technology, the economy, institutions, ecology, culture, behaviour, and belief systems. They typically cover all aspects of energy systems, including

resource extraction, conversion, and end-use” (GEA 2012, Section 16.1.1.1, p.

56 In the Executive Summary (GEA 2012, p. 1748) the report states that:

“Energy transitions are, by definition, long-term, socially embedded processes in the course of which capacities at the individual, organizational, and systems levels, as well as the policies for capacity development themselves, will inevitably change. From this perspective, capacity development can no longer be seen as a simple aggregation of individual skills and competences or the introduction of a new “technology.” Rather, it is a broad process of change in production and consumption patterns, knowledge, skills, organizational forms, and – most importantly – in the established practices and norms of the actors involved, or what are called informal institutions.”

It goes on to state that:

“Case studies of the implementation of onshore wind power in Europe and the diffusion of solar home systems in Asia and Africa illustrate that dialogues play an important role in developing and institutionalizing capacities for energy transitions. Dialogues may not “solve” problems, but they do open channels for innovative ways to deal with them. For dialogues to work, confidence-building measures that recognize the legitimacy of local concerns, interests, and needs, as well as take account of the informal institutions shaping the behaviour of actors involved in the change process, are essential in gaining broad societal support for an energy transition.”

These quotes show that to make an energy transition involves many different groups of actors and institutions that are joined by “dialogues” that transfer knowledge.

For the transition to DC electricity systems, the following will be required of a theory that will help encapsulate the transition:

1. It should be able to deal with a fundamental transformation within a technical system (transitioning processes)

2. It should be able to include both the technical and social aspects of the system (is sociotechnical)

3. It should be able to help in the understanding of the transitioning process (characterise the system under analysis)

4. It should be able to encapsulate the actors and their decision making processes (actors, institutions, institutional structuration, power, and lock-in processes)

57 Ever since Adam Smith looked at the way people worked, researchers have been studying aspects of working practices. Trist (1951) researched how changes in the working methods of coalmining affected the coalminers, and discussed the relationship between “social structure

and technological content of the work system”. His work was seminal in understanding the

relationships between people and technology.

For many years, researchers have been interested in how technological transitions (TT) take place. Case studies include: the transition from sailing ships to steamships between 1780– 1900 (Geels, 2002), from a high to a low carbon electricity system (Foxon et al., 2010), changes in the Dutch electricity system (Verbong and Geels, 2007), the transition from humans to machines unloading grain cargo in the port of Rotterdam (Van Driel and Schot, 2005), the transition from traditional factories to mass production in the USA (Geels, 2006b), the transition from horse-drawn carriages to automobiles (Geels, 2005a) and the transition from cesspools to a sewer system in Holland (Geels, 2006a).

This research, which is about a transition in the electricity system, takes place in what Araújo (2014) labels the “emerging field of energy transitions” and is part of the emerging field of

“sustainability transitions” (Markard et al., 2012). It is looking at a transition of a

technological system, which is governed by, and exists within, a complex sociological structure. This implies that, the theory that will provide the theoretical framework needed to help formulate a transition to DC systems, will be found in the social sciences.

58 Figure 3.1 The four conceptual frameworks central to sustainability transition studies

(Markard et al., 2012).

According to Markard et.al (2012) there are “Four approaches that are considered to be central for the theoretical framing of sustainability transitions”, each providing its own

conceptual framework. These are shown to the right of Figure 3.1 above. These four areas of research have developed out of many social science theories that could help to understand and contextualise the electrical system, many of which could be used to understand specific aspects of the system.

The theory that best encapsulates most aspects of the five criteria above is the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) on sociotechnical transitions. (For a further discussion see Section 4.5). Below is a brief outline of the background and concepts incorporated into the MLP theory that shows it is compatible with this research.

Geels (2002) describes technological transitions as:

“…major, long-term technological changes in the way societal functions are fulfilled. TTs do not only involve changes in technology, but also changes in user practices, regulation, industrial networks, infrastructure, and symbolic meaning or culture.”

The MLP theory is derived from different analytical theories, (as can been seen in figure 3.1 above), and is described by Geels (2011, Section 2) as follows:

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“The multi-level perspective (MLP) is a middle-range theory that conceptualizes overall dynamic patterns in sociotechnical transitions. The analytical framework combines concepts from evolutionary economics (trajectories, regimes, niches, speciation, path dependence, routines), science and technology studies (sense making, social networks, innovation as a social process shaped by broader societal contexts), structuration theory and neo-institutional theory (rules and institutions as ‘deep structures’ on which knowledgeable actors draw in their actions, duality of structure, i.e. structures are both context and outcome of actions, ‘rules of the game’ that structure actions)”.

In the MLP model of sociotechnical systems transitions “...two views of the evolution are combined: (i) evolution as a process of variation, selection and retention, (ii) evolution as a

process of unfolding and re-configuration…”. Geels (2011, p. 26) explains that the

uniqueness of his MLP is that it focuses on concrete systems like energy, transport, and agri- goods, and focuses “...in more detail on the various groups, their strategies, resources, beliefs and interactions”. Geels has further refined and developed his MLP model over the last

fourteen years (2005b, 2011, 2014a, 2014b; 2007; Verbong and Geels, 2007). Foxton (2011) builds on the MLP in his research to develop transition pathways for the UK electrical system. The levels given by Geels in his MLP framework provides for all aspects of the transition, from the inception to proliferation and includes external and internal pressures that affect the transition. Therefore, this research concludes that since it has many aspects that match the full cycle of the sociotechnical transition, the MLP is the best theoretic framework for this transition.