Abstract
Net-zero policy in Europe is often told as a success story of cleaner grids and efficient homes. For many remote and rural communities, however, life is shaped by chronic fuel poverty, unstable infrastructures and little influence over decisions. This paper uses the Orkney Islands in Scotland to examine how governance arrangements, metrics and expert knowledge determine who is protected and who is left exposed in the transition to net-zero heating. Building on engineering-led research on domestic energy demand in Orkney, the paper shifts the emphasis from system optimisation to responsibility and accountability. It interrogates how official fuel poverty indicators, EPC-based targets and national strategies frame “acceptable” living conditions, and contrasts these with a locally grounded sense of what households need to stay healthy in an exposed island setting. The analysis shows how tools such as model assumptions, deprivation indices and retrofit eligibility rules can normalise disadvantage when they ignore rural costs, housing constraints and energy literacy. Rather than outlining another technical roadmap, the paper asks whose knowledge counts in defining a fair transition for places like Orkney and who carries the burden when policies fail. It argues for governance built around three principles: recognition of place-specific energy needs, co-produced local retrofit strategies, and enforceable duties on institutions to prevent foreseeable harm. By foregrounding these questions, the paper invites a broader conversation about what “sustainable futures” mean for communities at the edges of energy systems, and how interdisciplinary collaborations can shift the stories and the structures that currently leave them behind.
Presenters
Androniki PapathanasiPhD Student - Research Assistant, School of Engineering - Institute for Energy Systems, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom Karla G. Cedano
Head, Technology Management and Liaison, UNAM Instituto de Energías Renovables, Morelos, Mexico Daniel Friedrich
Chair of Energy Systems, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
NERGY JUSTICE, FUEL POVERTY, RURAL ISLANDS, GOVERNANCE, JUST TRANSITION
