Framing in Renewable Energy Policies: A Glossary

Abstract

The transformation of a power supply, a social-technical system suffering from a heavy lock-ins, requires structural adaptations which are extremely complex. All actors in social acceptance processes have either strong vested interests in the current system or are challenging these. In strategies developed by those actors, so-called ‘frames’ play a key role. These are biased problem definitions and mental shortcuts, tools to affect the course of decision-making processes. Examples are “clean coal”, “smart grid”, “base-load”, or “decentralized”. Framing is fundamental to political processes, including those of decision making on renewables. This review presents a glossary of significant frames used in social acceptance processes of renewables’ innovation in power supply systems. The identified frames are classified and presented with, in each entry, one significant frame discussed and analyzed in relation to its most associated frames. Overall, the contrast comes to the fore between the paradigm of the current heavy centralized and hierarchically managed power supply system, on the one hand, and the newly emerging concepts around distributed generation on the other hand. Within these two clusters and in between, certain frames are focused on issues of ownership and control of infrastructures, while others concern allocation of space for establishing infrastructure.