Energy systems and ecosystem services; an emerging research agenda


Dan van der Horst  d.vanderhorst@bham.ac.uk


Ludwig Boltzmann once said that the struggle for survival was the struggle for available energy.
Ludwig’s statement contains a metaphor of Darwin's evolutionary ecology; the ‘survival of the
fittest’. The purpose of my talk is to further explore some of the links between ecology/ecosystems
in the Anthropocene and our energy systems which are slowly moving towards decarbonisation,
decentralisation and re-localisation. This exploration (so I hope) will serve to stimulate the
emergence of a transformative energy research agenda which is not hampered by the false
distinctions between people and nature and between technology and ecology. Drawing on examples of
my own research, I will also engage with some of the 'so what' aspect of academic research in this
area; e.g. how can our growing understanding of energy systems as (part of) ecosystems, feed into
better policies? How can theories of socio-technical (energy) transitions improve our spatial and
ecological planning frameworks?