Political Economies of Energy Transition: Wind and Solar Power in Brazil and South Africa
- Starts10:00 am on Thursday, May 19, 2022
- Ends11:00 am on Thursday, May 19, 2022
Global climate solutions depend on low-carbon energy transitions in developing countries, but little is known about how those will unfold. Examining the transitions of Brazil and South Africa, Kathryn Hochstetler reveals in her new book, “Political Economies of Energy Transition: Wind and Solar Power in Brazil and South Africa,” how choices about wind and solar power respond to four different constellations of interests and institutions, or four simultaneous political economies of energy transition. The political economy of climate change set Brazil and South Africa on different tracks, with South Africa's coal-based electricity system fighting against an existential threat. Since deforestation dominates Brazil's climate emissions, climate concerns were secondary there for electricity planning. Both saw significant mobilization around industrial policy and cost and consumption issues, showing the importance of economic considerations for electricity choices in emerging economies. Host communities resisted Brazilian wind power, but accepted other forms. Hochstetler argues that national energy transition finally depends on the intersection of these political economies, with South Africa illustrating a politicized transition mode and Brazil presenting a bureaucracy-dominant one.
Join us on Thursday, May 19, for a discussion with Kathryn Hochstetler, Professor and Head of the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science. This webinar is part of the Spring 2022 Global Economic Governance Book Talk Series.
- Location:
- Zoom
- Registration:
- https://bostonu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_f2SPXcOESk686Wwk7p3Z6g