Ethics in Danish Energy Policy (Routledge Studies in Energy Policy)

This book deepens our understanding of ethical drivers in energy policy and contributes to future decision-making on transitions towards a sustainable energy system.

During the latest fifty years Western energy politics have been faced with a series of ethical challenges including rapid growth, oil crises, security of supply, nuclear power and climate change. Combining philosophical, historical and planning approaches into one narrative, these dilemmas are explored using Denmark as the key case study. Drawing on contributions from several experts in the field, the ethics of energy is investigated from multiple perspectives at the individual, corporate, local and national levels, focusing on concrete decisions where different ethical considerations are weighted against each other. This comprehensive approach helps to gain a deeper understanding of the energy sector’s history and gives important input to its future layout.

Drawing comparisons with European and global examples, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy politics and policy, environmental ethics, climate change and sustainability transitions.

Finn Arler works as Professor of Ethics and Planning at the Department of Planning, Aalborg University, Denmark. His main research is about planning in relation to ethics and politics. His main fields of interests are sustainability, climate change, landscape democracy, economics, biodiversity, and concepts of nature.

Mogens Rüdiger is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and Society at Aalborg University. He has published extensively on various aspects of energy history.

Karl Sperling, Ph.D., works as an associate professor in Energy Planning at the Department of Planning at Aalborg University. His main research is within renewable energy systems with an interdisciplinary interest in planning, policy and economy with a special focus on urban and local energy transitions; grassroots initiatives in the energy sector; and coordination and ownership of smart energy systems.

Kristian Høyer Toft obtained a Ph.D. in political science from Aarhus University. He has held positions as postdoc in bioethics at the University of Copenhagen and an associate professorship at Aalborg University, Denmark, in applied philosophy. His research is focused on corporate responsibility, in particular with regard to climate change.

Bo Poulsen is a Professor of Modern History at Aalborg University, Denmark, with a special interest in fisheries and marine science. Poulsen is currently the PI of the Danish Research Council-funded project, Living on the Edge.