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| GEC-1992-05 : Energy and Social Health: Integrating Quantity and Quality in Energy Planning |  |
| You can download this working paper in PDF format (120.33K). |
| By:
D.W. Pearce,
Turner, K.,
O'Riordan, T. | |
| This paper sets out the connections between emerging philosophies of economic development, grouped together within the concept of sustainability, and future energy policies. It is argued that the social health of an energy system cannot be encompassed by a purely financial cost appraisal. The concept of an externality does on the other hand capture, to a considerable extent, what we mean by the social health of an energy system. Energy systems will have to be modified for 'externality adders' ie. the incorporation of environmental and other external costs into the utility pricing system. This is essentially the cost-benefit appraisal approach and as such we show how it is consistent with one view of sustainability ie. weak sustainability. Nonetheless, social acceptability is not guaranteed by this process of externality internalisation. In large part this will be because of uncertainty about the ecological impacts of energy systems, a prime example of which is the greenhouse effect. Consequently, a socially healthy energy system must also account for uncertainty and society's preferences for less uncertainty and less risk. This is what the precautionary principle approach attempts to do and we also show how this principle is consistent with a strong sustainability viewpoint. A view that does not allow the degradation of the natural capital stock (in terms of ecosystem damage - quantity and or quality loss) to any significant extent | |
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