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The extent to which renewables gain public support and are able to attract adequate private or public investment is key to their further uptake. Although individuals and some groups have expressed concerns about specific renewable energy projects, opinion polls indicate strong public support for the growth of renewables. Governments have sought to improve public participation, strengthen regulatory control and share economic benefits with host communities to further build citizen support for renewable energy projects.

Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) is one of the world's most abundant agricultural residues and in an Indian context, ∼100 million tonnes per annum is produced. The current use of SCB is restricted to the cogeneration of steam and power; however considering its potential, cogeneration is not the best valorisation route. Furthermore, with falling electricity prices and reducing global sugar prices due to excess sugar stock, it is inevitable that the waste generated (SCB) by sugar mills are utilised for generating revenue sustainably. With this background, this review aims to put forth a biorefinery perspective based on SCB feedstock. Biogas and bioethanol are the Government of India's current focus with policies and subsidies clearly pointing towards a sizeable future market. Therefore, alongside these biofuels, high-value chemicals such as xylitol, succinic acid and lactic acid were identified as other desired products for biorefineries. This review firstly discusses SCB pre-treatment options based on end applications (saccharification or anaerobic digestion, AD). Next, state-of-the-art for each of these aspects was reviewed and our perspective on a profitable biorefinery is presented. We propose an AD based biorefinery where vortex-based hydrodynamic cavitation was found to be the best choice for pre-treatment. AD is considered not only a bioprocess for energy production here but also a 'pre-treatment', where partial conversion of holocellulose leads to a digestate rich in a loosened fibre matrix. This digestate rich in cellulose can be enzymatically hydrolysed and further valorised biochemically. This approach would be cost effective and provide a sustainable waste management route for sugar mills.

This paper provides a critical review of 20 years of research on social acceptance of wind energy. This field of research has evolved in conceptual and methodological complexity and encompassed a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, including geography, psychology, economics, political science and spatial planning. This has been able to provide substantial insights into the factors that drive community concerns about wind energy, including regulatory processes, project design, siting, ownership and community benefit issues. While deepening our understanding and suggestive of a few arenas for improving practice (such as enhanced community engagement), wind energy projects continue to face local opposition in many varied contexts. Indeed, in many countries, community concerns now define the limiting factor to this energy technology – so why has this research not been able to significantly influence the trajectory of social acceptance?

This article contributes to discussions of the social acceptance of renewable energy (RE) by developing an analytical framework that considers three dimensions (community, market, and political-regulator) at three different scales (macro, meso, and micro). This framework is conceived in order to identify those dynamics that are potentially counterproductive to the energy transition and need further policy emphasis, as well as supporting those that demonstrate a positive impact. Using this framework, we critically reflect on the 2010 National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) policies of three European countries with high wind resources: Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. Within the RE policy landscapes of these three countries lies the contentious issue of social acceptance of wind power. The framework analysis reveals similar policy profiles for each country, characterized by a heavy focus on the market dimension at all scales, an effort to allow private business to steer the transition, and a low focus on the community dimension. In doing so, our research reveals how policy-making processes have privileged the voice of actors who are able to communicate quantifiable data and evidence to support their position, and these actors thereby have greater influence to shape national energy policies.

Amidst growing analytical interest in the spatial dimensions of sustainable energy transitions, relatively little attention has been given to the role of sub-national government, or the ways in which dominant socio-technical regimes navigate diverse contexts. This paper addresses these concerns in a linked fashion by assessing the impacts of devolution within the UK on renewable energy development. It draws principally on policy networks analysis as the basis of a comparative assessment, examining how far the governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have translated their formal powers in the energy sphere into renewable energy outcomes. Scotland's relative success in facilitating rapid expansion of on-shore wind is attributed to a more enduring and cohesive policy community around of renewable energy growth than in Northern Ireland and Wales, but this success has been adversely affected by fragmenting policy networks around renewables at national (UK) level. The analysis highlights especially the role of planning and consenting, as mechanisms by which devolved governments have worked to contain the potentially disruptive effects of opposition to major infrastructure investments, thereby enhancing regime reproduction.

This paper aims to contribute to understanding the dynamics of industrial symbiosis. More specifically, we focus on the dynamics of anchoring as they can be observed in the Chinese context of eco-industrial development. We define anchoring as those activities that (typically local) actors perform to create local physical and institutional conditions conducive to the emergence and further development of industrial symbiosis in a specific regional industrial system. We argue that, in the study of industrial symbiosis dynamics, it is conceptually more useful to focus on anchoring as an activity, rather than anchor tenants as actors. Based on a systematic literature review, we distinguish two types of anchoring activities: institutional and physical. We analyze anchoring dynamics in the case of Qijiang Industrial Symbiosis (Chongqing Municipality) in China. We have identified the physical and institutional anchoring activities, the actors responsible for these activities, and how different anchoring activities build on each other over time. Our case study shows that the attempt to bring about industrial symbiosis in the Qijiang industrial park can be described in a richer way than just 'governmental planning'.

The paper distinguishes four views on the impact of the financial-economic crisis on sustainability transitions (operationalized as diffusion of green niche-innovations). The first three views highlight the possibility of positive impacts of the financial-economic crisis on sustainability transitions and joint solutions: (a) a comprehensive transformation of the capitalist system, (b) a green Industrial Revolution, linked to a sixth green Kondratieff wave, and (c) green growth. The fourth view perceives the impact as mainly negative, because the financial-economic crisis weakens public, political and business attention for environmental problems. The paper confronts these views with secondary data on three analytical categories: (1) financial investment, (2) policy and governance, and (3) public opinion and civil society. Data focus on renewable energy and climate policy in the UK, Europe and the world. The paper concludes that the early crisis years (2008-2010) created a window of opportunity for positive solutions. But since 2010-2011 this window appears to be shrinking, with the financial-economic crisis having negative influences on sustainability transitions that may cause some slow-down. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The transition to a "low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy by the end of the year 2050" has been conceptualised as the "national transition objective" in the Irish Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill, passed in late 2015. This has raised a myriad of questions over how this can be operationalised and resourced and whether it can maintain political momentum. This paper assesses the utility of framings informed by the transitions (MLP) and technological innovation systems perspectives in contributing to transformative societal processes, by examining their application in an Irish case study on policy and technology. Through a qualitative exploration of the broader societal and policy context of the energy sector and a more detailed examination of the innovation systems of selected niche technologies (bioenergy and electric vehicles), the Irish case study sought to identify potential catalysts for a sustainability transition in the energy sector in Ireland: where these exist, how these are being built or enabled, and barriers to change. Following a discussion on the theoretical approaches used, a description will be given of how these were applied in the conducting of the research on transition in Ireland case study and the key findings which emerged. A critical reflection will then be made on the utility of these perspectives (as applied) to contribute to broader processes of societal transformation in Ireland.

Current biorefineries are predominantly based around single feedstock sources, extensively hydrolysed using multiple unit operations. The hydrolysate is generally converted to a single product by one of a few well-characterised organisms. Here, we report on a new approach to the biorefinery, combining a rapid, microwave heated, one-step depolymerisation process, with a yeast, Metschnikowia pulcherrima which is able to metabolise an array of oligo- and monosaccharides. During the investigation it was found that the microwave hydrolysis process was able to solubilize upto 50% wheat straw biomass by weight, mainly as oligosaccharides though also containing mixtures of pentose, hexose and anhydro-sugars with concentrations of up to 2 g L -1 . However, a fine balance between elevated monosaccharide yields and the production of inhibitive compounds had to be struck with optimal microwave hydrolytic conditions found to be 190 °C. Further testing utilizing several different types of lignocellulosic biomass demonstrated it was possible to attain ~65% carbon efficiency in the conversion of Laminaria saccharina to hydrolysis products. The system was scaled to 600 mL using DDGS successfully solubilizing 66% of the feedstock, producing 33 g L -1 hydrolysate. M. pulcherrima grew well on this hydrolysate in a controlled stirred tank bioreactor (2L), yielding 8.38 g L -1 yeast biomass, a yeast biomass coefficient of 0.25. This presents an exciting, feedstock agnostic, pathway to the energy efficient production of a wide variety of commercially valuable chemical products without the need for extensive pre and post processing technologies. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 665992

Environmental challenges and risks associated with climate change face all of our cities, and the construction industry has a major role to play in terms of changed practice. The Singaporean government has, over a period of many decades, made efforts to address environmental challenges including the implementation in recent years of policies and guidance regarding the design of new buildings. These are regarded as vital to ensuring that the city has a sustainable future. The research reported in this paper undertook to review perceptions and awareness of sustainable construction methods and policies within the Singaporean construction industry. An in-depth online questionnaire was completed by respondents drawn from the A1 contractors group, with questions concerning both regulation and industrial perceptions, attitudes and action. With regards to the relative importance of drivers for change, the research indicated that regulatory compliance appeared to be more significant than new practices instigated as a results of changes in attitude and perception alone. A main conclusion of the paper is that government regulatory and incentive programmes may be able to drive positive change effectively and efficiently, but that this needs to happen alongside initiatives to support Client awareness and adoption of sustainable practice.

Using populist tactics to frame energy transitions is neither new nor a predominantly Western phenomenon. In sub-Saharan Africa, populist leaders have long dispensed energy endowments for political gains. This paper studies populism and energy in Uganda, a highly energy-deprived country. Fact-checking recent governmental speeches and policies reveals a hefty presence of post-truth politics in Uganda's energy sector. President Yoweri Museveni's attempt to highlight developmental achievements have informed overly optimistic depictions of electricity planning, generation, transmission, distribution and pricing. We argue that the success of post-truth politics as a populist instrument may depend on the public's ability to easily falsify the respective claims. While populist narratives have generally helped to legitimise Museveni's leadership, our novel household survey data suggest that they have failed to mask the observable reality of poor governmental electrification performance. Respondents held sceptical opinions of electrification achievements, infrastructure status and the attribution of high electricity tariffs. Over 80% did not believe in the truthfulness of Uganda's energy debate, a result robust to different age, gender, residential, educational and income levels. This well-informed Ugandan public, paired with a growing international presence and global development goals pose unprecedented pressures on Uganda's government to eventually deliver factual, large-scale electrification.

Increasing political effort to improve water quality across the UK and Europe has led to water and sewerage companies investing heavily in high-tech wastewater treatment plants capable of producing high quality effluents. Consequently, amounts of bought-in electricity used for wastewater treatment has and will continue to increase significantly over coming years, while greater provision of enhanced sewage treatment also produces greater volumes of sewage sludge requiring treatment and disposal. Over the same period, tougher controls on the quality of biosolids applied to agricultural land have also been introduced, while there has been an international attempt to reduce the use of fossil-fuel derived power sources because of concerns over global warming. The latter has brought about the introduction of financial instruments, such as the Climate Change Levy, to curb energy use, promote energy efficiency and encourage the development of renewable energy technologies. These factors are set to drive-up the costs of providing adequate sewage treatment services, while at the same time, a tough regulatory line taken to control profits on regional monopolies held by the UK water companies will significantly reduce their revenues over the period 2000–05. The result is that, financially, UK water and sewerage companies face their most challenging period since privatisation in 1989. This paper briefly outlines the current regulations relating to water quality and energy use that will affect water company operations over coming years.

International engagement in sub-Saharan Africa's power sector is increasing rapidly. Aid is used to directly finance a growing number of foreign companies to implement power projects, accompanied by calls for policy and governance reform. This paper argues that while new and much-needed finance is becoming available, the current approach to foreign support poses several new challenges for broad and sustainable long-term development of the African power sector. They include a focus on creating market opportunities for non-African rather than domestic companies, the difficulty of delivering large-scale rural electrification through the externally advocated market-based approach, economic inefficiencies of current aid spending, and the difficulty of tackling complex, country-specific issues with continental electrification initiatives. To address these challenges, we suggest redirecting public funds towards rural electrification, increasing African ownership, individualising policy interventions and easing the current types of neoliberal conditionalities.

Marine macroalgae (seaweed) has many advantages over terrestrial crops as a source of renewable biomass but is severely underutilised at present, especially within Europe. In particular, macroalgae has elevated poly- and monosaccharide content, making it an ideal feedstock as a heterotrophic fermentation sugar source for the production of higher value chemicals. Recent reports have detailed the suitability of seaweeds as a feedstock for the production of single-cell oils (SCOs) which have application in food, oleochemicals and fuels. It is proposed that a biorefinery system based on the production of SCOs alongside other secondary metabolites, has the potential to provide a sustainable replacement to terrestrial oils such as palm oil. This work therefore evaluates, for the first time, the environmental and economic sustainability of a production process for SCOs from seaweed Saccharina latissima using the oleaginous yeast Metschnikowia pulcherrima. Two alternative fermentation systems were considered, and uncertainties associated with the seasonal variation in seaweed carbohydrate yield and fermentation performance were integrated into the analysis. From an environmental perspective, the work indicates that seaweed derived SCO lipids and fats can be comparable to a terrestrial oil mix, with a potential climate change impact ranging between 2.5 and 9.9 kg CO 2 eq. kg −1 refined SCO. Interestingly and of particular significance, environmental impacts are mainly dominated by energy demand within fermentation and upstream processing steps. From an economic perspective, a break-even selling price for the oil was determined as between €5,300-€31,000 tonne −1 refined SCO, which was highly dependent on cost of the seaweed feedstock. Overall, we demonstrate that key uncertainties relating to seaweed cultivation costs and hydrolysate fermentation at scale result in a large range in values for environmental impact and economic return on investment. Yet even within the constraints and limitations of current knowhow, seaweed already offers a viable proposition for the competitive production of exotic oils similar to cocoa or shea butter in price and nature. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 665992

Arguably one of the most prominent measures to facilitate more Sustainable Consumption and Production has been the instrument of product labelling. But with a plethora of labelling schemes having been implemented by various actors over the last decade, many now accuse them of being confusing rather than facilitating. As a result, governments in France, UK and Germany, as well as businesses such as Walmart and non-governmental organisations, like WWF, have begun to consider seriously the implementation of some form of 'meta' scheme that condenses existing product labels and other communication measures into an overarching Sustainability message. Yet so far, in depth studies on the potential institutionalisation of a Sustainability Meta Labelling Scheme are missing. Drawing upon a novel theoretically integrative framework that combines theoretical arguments of constructivist institutionalism and institutional entrepreneurship with the concept of legitimacy, this paper addresses this gap by exploring how the notion of Sustainability Meta Labelling has so far been discussed and investigating the prospects for such an overarching scheme to become institutionalised. Empirically, the paper bases on documentary analysis and elite interviews focussed on case studies of four existing product labelling schemes (EU ecolabel, EU energy label, Marine Stewardship Council and Fairtrade label) as well as the notion of Sustainability Meta Labelling. Legitimacy constructions are demonstrated rather than shown to be highly dynamic and oftentimes inherently conflicting. Many of these conflicts thereby appear to be likely to increase rather than decrease with the implementation of an overarching Sustainability Meta Labelling scheme. In a sense, this study shows that the very issue that is claimed to drive the establishment of a Sustainability Meta Labelling Scheme-the different interpretations of the Sustainable Development concept through different product labels-might in fact pose one of the main challenges for its institutionalisation and effectiveness in facilitating more Sustainable Consumption and Production. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.