Framing energy as a sociotechnical problem of control, change, and action
Christian Büscher · 2018
The ongoing energy transition is a sociotechnical project challenging technological paradigms and business patterns as well as individual and collective behavior. The transition is considered to offer vital solutions to society’s manifold problems such as scarce resources, climate change, and dependence on dangerous technologies. However, every new technological solution creates new problems. Following Paul Edwards, large infrastructures can be conceived as “a linked series of sociotechnical problems.” This contribution extends this idea and exposes basic sociotechnical problems in three dimensions for energy transitions. First, the problem of maintaining control despite complexity is magnified by heterogeneous elements with manifold relations, which leads to emergent behavior of systems. Second, there is the problem of fostering change despite the need for stable orientation during the operation of infrastructure services. Third, there is the problem posed by the necessity of maintaining a capacity to act, i.e., absorbing uncertainty, despite the increasing discrepancy between “simple” visible interfaces and complicated technological realities in the background. These three problems cannot be reduced to merely technical or to strictly social variables. They need constant and dynamic attention because they cannot be solved permanently. Moreover, the sociotechnical problems mutually influence each other, with changes in one dimension causing permutations in others. The concept of “sociotechnical problems” provides a comprehensive perspective on energy transitions and, at the same time, provides a useful basis for interdisciplinary research.