Energy justice is a critical topic in Europe, with a growing emphasis in academic and policy debates on tackling energy poverty and ensuring a just transition to sustainable energy. But what about the rest of the world? In the Asian context, there is much less consideration of the fairness of the energy transition process and its social and spatial impacts. The case of Taiwan is a stark example of the hidden socio-spatial challenges and injustices that energy transition brings, with rapid and uncontrolled deployment of wind and solar energy parks, especially in more peripheral, rural areas. The recently published paper by Kuan-Ting Liu and myself sheds some light on this topic and proposes a framework for integrated planning for just energy transition, building on the case study of Changhua region in Taiwan.
Taiwan has set ambitious goals for its energy transition, aiming to generate 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Given that Taiwan imports 98% of its energy, this shift towards energy autonomy is not just ambitious but necessary amidst rising geopolitical tensions. However, Taiwan’s energy transition policy falls short in detailing how this goal will be achieved and how renewable energy infrastructure should be distributed across space in an equitable way. The top-down approach lacks comprehensive planning and ignores the significant spatial and social challenges, especially in rural areas where most renewable energy infrastructure is planned. The already ongoing rapid shift towards renewable energy, particularly solar and wind, has triggered various socio-economic and environmental issues. For example, agricultural lands are being rapidly used up for energy projects without proper involvement of local farmers or the agricultural sector. This not only threatens food security but also exacerbates environmental degradation and the already existing regional economic disparities.
The research presented in this paper shows that crux of Taiwan’s challenge lies in its fragmented spatial planning system. Currently, Taiwan manages land use through separate urban, regional, and national park planning systems, with no integrated approach. This has resulted in uncoordinated deployment of renewable energy infrastructure, often at the expense of local communities and the environment. The case study research in Changhua area is used to expose these issues and identify institutional and spatial barriers for making the transition more just. Against this background, the paper advocates moving towards an integrated approach to spatial planning combined with a focus on distributive and procedural spatial justice that could help address these challenges and spread the benefits and burdens of the transition towards renewables more fairly across space and social groups.
Apart from rethinking the governance of spatial develpoment and renewable energy infrastructure provision, such a move also involves recognising and addressing the place-specific needs and challenges of different regions and communities. This, in turn, requires involving local communities in energy planning and decision-making processes, protecting agricultural lands to ensure food security and environmental health, and bridging the gap between energy and spatial planning to create holistic strategies that consider the socio-spatial impacts of renewable energy projects. At the same time, the study points to the need for raising public awareness about the energy transition and its impacts on non-urban areas in order to prevent deepening the urban-rural divide and societal conflicts that renewables are already causing.
Below is a graphical abstract summarising the main ideas in the paper and the full text is available in open access format here.
Liu K-T, Dąbrowski M. Towards Just and Integrated Energy Transition in Taiwan: A Socio-Spatial Perspective. Land. 2024; 13(7):916. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13070916
Marcin Dąbrowski 