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© The Author(s) 2020
S. Sareen (ed.), Enabling Sustainable Energy Transitions,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26891-6_1
CHAPTER 1
Reframing Energy Transitions as Resolving
Accountability Crises
Siddharth Sareen
Abstract Using the concrete case of solar energy uptake in Portugal,
Chap. 1 illustrates how energy transitions can be regarded as attempts to
resolve crises of accountability. While Portugal is among the countries that
lead globally on energy transitions, close attention to its apparently promising solar energy prospects reveals a paradox: progress has been slow and
modest. Yet, there seems to be a major change on the horizon, and a
potentially powerful explanation for these dynamics is premised on relations of accountability amongst stakeholders in Portugal’s energy sector.
Having argued that such a reframing of energy transitions has explanatory
power, the chapter deconstructs accountability as an underlying relationship which is produced by various practices that manifest as legitimation.
It argues for an analytical typology of legitimation.
Keywords Accountability crisis • Legitimation • Energy transitions •
Solar • Portugal
S. Sareen (*)
Department of Geography, Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation,
University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
e-mail: Siddharth.Sareen@uib.no
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Sareen (ed.), Enabling Sustainable Energy Transitions,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26891-6_1
CHAPTER 1
Reframing Energy Transitions as Resolving
Accountability Crises
Siddharth Sareen
Abstract Using the concrete case of solar energy uptake in Portugal,
Chap. 1 illustrates how energy transitions can be regarded as attempts to
resolve crises of accountability. While Portugal is among the countries that
lead globally on energy transitions, close attention to its apparently promising solar energy prospects reveals a paradox: progress has been slow and
modest. Yet, there seems to be a major change on the horizon, and a
potentially powerful explanation for these dynamics is premised on relations of accountability amongst stakeholders in Portugal’s energy sector.
Having argued that such a reframing of energy transitions has explanatory
power, the chapter deconstructs accountability as an underlying relationship which is produced by various practices that manifest as legitimation.
It argues for an analytical typology of legitimation.
Keywords Accountability crisis • Legitimation • Energy transitions •
Solar • Portugal
S. Sareen (*)
Department of Geography, Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation,
University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
e-mail: Siddharth.Sareen@uib.no