title: Tensions between urban life, disadvantage, energy consumption and the transition to renewable energy for Australian households: A series of essays
Creators: name: Poruschi, Lavinia
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Cities
subject: Energy
subject: Energy justice
subject: Geographic information systems
subject: Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey
subject: Renewable energy

description: Anthropogenic climate change poses a significant threat to the planet’s natural ecosystems on which human civilisation depends. Since industrialisation, society has relied on the burning of fossil fuels to supply human settlements with energy. To avoid severe climate change impacts requires: a transformation in the energy supply mix, together with a step-change in energy efficiency of technologies and change in energy consumption behaviours. Yet little is known about the tensions that these necessary changes may provoke. This research is motivated by the need to understand these tensions that arise from action to address sustainable development concerns. Urban consolidation is hypothesised as one form of action which has the potential to address sustainable development concerns through the influence of built environment on energy consumption. For instance, spread-out cities mean energy distribution networks have to cover longer distances (and hence consume more energy), while compacter cities based on high-rise buildings mean fewer opportunities to use solar photovoltaics for energy supply. Research efforts directed towards understanding such tensions place urban planning theory and practice at a crossroads with: a long-standing literature on energy consumption, emerging evidence on society’s transition to renewable energy, and thriving debates on the principles/norms upon which just societies are governed. The tensions which may arise among these domains of inquiry remain under-researched in the scientific literature. The purpose of this thesis is, through a series of related essays, to redress this gap and uncover the tensions between urban life, disadvantage, energy consumption, and the transition to renewable energy for Australian households. To undertake this investigation a number of different data sources are drawn on. This thesis takes advantage of two nation-wide surveys: the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, and the Household Energy Consumption Survey. Furthermore, this thesis uses administrative data on the installation of photovoltaics from the Australian Photovoltaic Institute, in addition to several other datasets readily available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This data is prepared using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software (ArcGIS 10.4.1) and a statistical software package (Stata/SE 14.2). A range of micro-econometric techniques were applied to reveal new insights. In the main this thesis: (1) highlights the presence of mechanisms in urban areas which can have an impact on the amount of energy consumed and on the number of energy saving actions undertaken; (2) shows the connection between the built environment and fuel poverty and how it may be moderated by financial disadvantage; (3) compiles a unique dataset for feed-in tariff policies throughout Australia’s States and Territories over time; and (4) approximates the short-run and long-run causal impacts of the built environment and feed-in tariffs on solar photovoltaic technology installations. The findings of this thesis draw attention to the more nuanced role of the built environment in energy consumption and the disparity in opportunity that disadvantaged groups confront and their potential to create energy injustice. In this respect, this thesis provides a distinct contribution to the existing stock of knowledge. Moreover, this thesis also informs further research to build on and extend these findings. Finally, this thesis also serves to support energy and land-use policy debates and decisions as they relate to the tensions between urban life, disadvantage, energy consumption, and the transition to renewable energy.