Delina Authors Article on Energy Democracy in Thailand
Laurence Delina, a postdoctoral associate at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, authored a recent perspective article titled “Can Energy Democracy Thrive in a Non-democracy?” in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science.
In the paper, Delina argues that energy democracy — the idea of citizens leading energy transitions in small groups of households and neighbors for social and economic purposes — can thrive even in non-democratic countries. Drawing on evidence from non-democratic Thailand, he points to an example in Pa Deng of sustained public engagement on a community energy transition that was created and nurtured by Thai citizens, without any government influence. He argues that, despite the success of this particular community-oriented transition, the Pa Deng case is not necessarily “scalable,” but the lessons learned can serve as a framework for pursuing energy democracy elsewhere. Click here to read the paper.
At the Pardee Center, Delina leads a research project called The Future of Energy Systems in Developing Countries, which seeks to understand the options and trade-offs for achieving a secure and sustainable energy future in a select number of developing countries. He is the author of two recent books, Strategies for Rapid Climate Mitigation: Wartime mobilisation as a model for action? (Routledge 2016) and Accelerating Sustainable Energy Transition(s) in Developing Countries: The challenges of climate change and sustainable development (Routledge 2017). He also recently guest edited, with Pardee Center Director Anthony Janetos, a special issue of the journal Energy Research and Social Science (Vol. 35, January 2018) consisting of 24 accounts, stories, narratives, and perspectives on the futures of energy systems.