The Energy Transition as a Super Wicked Problem: The Energy Sector in the Era of Prosumer Capitalism

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate that the energy transition as part of prosumer capitalism is a socio-economic process whose complexity increases over time, which makes it an example of a super wicked problem. It comprises many new phenomena emerging spontaneously, and often unpredictably, in the energy markets. The main contemporary challenge involves such an energy sector transformation which will prevent climate change and will ensure the sustainable development of the global economy. However, this requires solving a large number of sub-problems in areas such as legislation, energy distribution, democracy, and cybersecurity. Therefore, this is a multidisciplinary issue. Moreover, the situation is complicated by the frequently omitted fact that energy transition is not part of the standard capitalism model, extensively described in handbooks and scientific literature, but it is conducted as part of a new economic system—prosumer capitalism, which has not been properly explored yet. However, a solution to this super wicked problem has to be found soon, as the energy system may be threatened with complexity catastrophe, which denotes exceeding the upper complexity limit associated with the breakdown of its adaptability. Therefore, developing effective techniques for alleviating the complexity catastrophe, including redefining the change management and complexity management methods to the global scale, becomes the top priority among the tasks faced by science.

Keywords

• energy transition
• super wicked problem
• prosumer capitalism
• energy policy
• climate change
• renewable energy