It has become increasingly clear that to make the
major carbon reductions being called for to mitigate
future climate change there will need to be moves
towards energy systems that incorporate a far greater
use of renewable energy technologies (Stern 2007;
European Union Council 2007). Such emerging
energy systems will, at least in the medium term,
take a hybrid form, with large-scale coal, gas and
nuclear generation operated alongside more distributed
and multi-scaled configurations of renewable energy
technologies. What this might imply for technical
engineering, regulation and market performance is
being increasingly discussed in the academic and
policy literatures (e.g. Pehnt
et al.
2006; Sauter and
Watson 2007; Willis 2006). However, there are also
profound social and geographical implications
embedded within emerging patterns of renewable