Benjamin K. Sovacool Explained

Benjamin K. Sovacool
Workplaces:	Aarhus University University of Sussex Boston University
Alma Mater:	John Carroll University
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Known For:	Energy policy IPCC AR5 report
Awards:	Dedication to Diversity and Justice Award
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Benjamin K. Sovacool is an American academic who is director of the Institute for Global Sustainability at Boston University as well as Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University.^[1] He was formerly Director of the Danish Center for Energy Technology at the Department of Business Development and Technology and a professor of social sciences at Aarhus University. He is also professor of energy policy at the University of Sussex, where he formerly directed the Center on Innovation and Energy Demand and the Sussex Energy Group. He has written on energy policy, environmental issues, and science and technology policy. Sovacool is also the editor-in-chief of Energy Research & Social Science.

Education

Sovacool has a bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Communication Studies (2001) from John Carroll University, master's degrees in Rhetoric (2003) from Wayne State University and in Science Policy (2005) Virginia Tech, and a PhD (2006) in Science and Technology Studies from Virginia Tech.^{[2] [3]}

Career

While at Virginia Tech, Sovacool worked as a graduate student on a grant from the National Science Foundation's Electric Power Networks Efficiency and Security Program analyzing the barriers to small-scale renewable electricity sources and distributed generation in the United States. He worked in research and advisory capacities for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Semiconductor Materials and Equipment International, the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank Group, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

From 2007 until 2011 Sovacool was at the National University of Singapore, where he led research projects supported by the MacArthur Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation investigating how to improve energy security for impoverished rural communities throughout Asia.^[4]

Sovacool was an associate professor at Vermont Law School and founded their Energy Security & Justice Program in 2011.^[4] In 2012, Sovacool was an Erasmus Mundus Visiting Scholar at Central European University in Hungary. He consulted for the Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Program, and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. He was awarded the Dedication to Diversity and Justice Award from the American Bar Association in 2015.^[5]

In 2013, Sovacool was Director of the Center for Energy Technology and professor of business and social sciences at Aarhus University in Denmark.^{[6] [7]} He is also Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom.^[8] Sovacool lectures on energy security, alternative and renewable energy, environmental economics, and energy policy.^[9]

In 2014, Sovacool became the founding editor-in-chief of Energy Research & Social Science, which explores the interactions between energy systems and society.^{[10] [11]}

Publications

Sovacool has authored numerous academic articles and book chapters and has written opinion editorials for The Wall Street Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle.^[9] According to Google Scholar his scientific publication has (as of September 2022) an h-index of 113.^[12]

In 2007, Sovacool co-edited .^{[13] [14]} In 2008, he wrote The Dirty Energy Dilemma: What’s Blocking Clean Power in the United States which was published by Praeger and won a 2009 Nautilus Book Award.^[15]

In Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power (2011) Sovacool says, following a detailed analysis, that there is a "consensus among a broad base of independent, nonpartisan experts that nuclear power plants are a poor choice for producing electricity", and that "energy efficiency programs and renewable power technologies are better than nuclear power plants".^[16] In 2016, Sovacool, Andrew Lawrence and Andrew Stirling published an article in Climate Policy claiming that pro-nuclear energy countries had acted more slowly to address climate change.^{[17] [18]} Critics pointed out errors in the data the article was based on,^{[19] [20]} and the authors retracted it, as the two errors "had the combined effect of invalidating key findings of this paper".^[21]

In October 2020, Sovacool and Stirling published another article in Nature Energy^[22] analysing data from 123 countries over 25 years that again argues that pro-nuclear countries do not show significantly lower carbon emissions, and that in poorer countries nuclear programmes are associated with relatively higher carbon emissions.^{[23] [24]} The results have been disputed in two publications. Harrison Fell et al. analyzed the same data as Sovacool did, finding that "nuclear power and renewable energy are both associated with lower per capita CO2 emissions with effects of similar magnitude", and pointing out bias and basic statistical fallacies in the Sovacool publication - for example, arbitrarily choosing 1990-2004 and 2000-2014 periods for their analysis, incorrectly accepting their null hypothesis when their analysis did not achieve statistical significance and other such issues.^[25] Friedrich Wagner investigated the CO₂ emissions caused by nuclear and renewable power. His "results are in complete contradiction" with the Sovacool study.^[26] Sovacool and colleagues have challenged such publications, with a rebuttal in Nature Energy noting that "rather than finding any critical flaws in our analysis," such studies instead "have only effectively confirmed our own basis for raising critical questions about the assumptions of parity in the carbon reducing effects of nuclear and renewable strategies."^[27]

Books

• Sovacool, BK and MA Brown (Eds.) Energy and American Society: Thirteen Myths (New York: Springer, 2007)
• Sovacool, BK. The Dirty Energy Dilemma: What’s Blocking Clean Power in the United States (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2008)
• Mendonça, M, D Jacobs, and BK Sovacool. Powering the Green Economy: The Feed-In Tariff Handbook, (London: Earthscan, 2009)
• Sovacool, BK (Ed.) Routledge Handbook of Energy Security (London: Routledge, 2010)
• Sovacool, BK. Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power: A Critical Global Assessment of Atomic Energy (London: World Scientific, 2011)
• Brown, MA and BK Sovacool. Climate Change and Global Energy Security: Technology and Policy Options (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2011)
• Sovacool, BK and SV Valentine. The National Politics of Nuclear Power: Economics, Security, and Governance (London: Routledge, 2012)
• Sovacool, BK and IM Drupady. Energy Access, Poverty, and Development: The Governance of Small-Scale Renewable Energy in Developing Asia (New York: Ashgate, 2012)
• Sovacool, BK and CJ Cooper. The Governance of Energy Megaprojects: Politics, Hubris, and Energy Security (London: Edward Elgar, 2013)
• Sovacool, BK. Energy & Ethics: Justice and the Global Energy Challenge (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2013)
• Sovacool, BK, R Sidortsov, and B Jones. Energy Security, Equality and Justice (London: Routledge, 2013)
• Halff, Antoine, J Rozhon and BK Sovacool (Eds.). Energy Poverty: Global Challenges and Local Solutions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014)
• Sovacool, BK and MH Dworkin. Global Energy Justice: Principles, Problems, and Practices (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014)
• Sovacool, BK (Ed.). Energy Security (London: Sage, Six Volumes, 2014)
• Sovacool, BK (Ed.). Energy, Poverty, and Development (London: Routledge Critical Concepts in Development Studies Series, Four Volumes, 2014)
• Sovacool, BK and BO Linnér. The Political Economy of Climate Change Adaptation (Basingstoke UK/New York United States: Palgrave Macmillan and the Nature Publishing Group, 2015)
• Sovacool, BK, MA Brown, and SV Valentine. Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy: Fifteen Contentious Questions (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016)
• Van de Graaf, T, BK Sovacool, F Kern, A Ghosh, and MT Klare (Eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of the International Political Economy of Energy (Basingstoke UK/New York United States: Palgrave Macmillan Handbooks in International Political Economy Series, 2016)
• Valentine, SV, MA Brown, and BK Sovacool. Empowering the Great Energy Transition: Policy for a Low-Carbon Future (New York: Columbia University Press, 2019)
• Sovacool, BK. Visions of Energy Futures: Imagining and Innovating Low-Carbon Transitions (New York and London: Routledge, 2019).
• Noel, L, J Kester, G Zarazua de Rubens, and BK Sovacool. Vehicle-to-Grid: A Sociotechnical Transition Beyond Electric Mobility (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2019).
• Van de Graaf, T and BK Sovacool. Global Energy Politics (Oxford: Polity Press, 2020).

See also

• 100% renewable energy
• Renewable energy commercialization
• Renewable energy in developing countries
• Comparisons of life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions

External links

• Benjamin Sovacool - Google Scholar Citations - List of publications and citations
• Institute for Global Sustainability

Notes and References

1. Web site: BU Institute to Focus on Equity and Justice in the Climate Change Fight . 2022-03-15 . 2022-11-09 . Boston University.
2. Web site: Benjamin Sovacool's academic curriculum. 15 October 2020. Aarhus University.
3. Web site: Benjamin Sovacool to receive the 2019 Graduate Alumni Achievement Award. 9 May 2019. 9 October 2020. Virginia Tech Daily. Cathy. Grimes.
4. Web site: VT Law School Launches Energy Security & Justice Project . January 24, 2012 . Vermont Law School . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120313144152/http://www.vermontlaw.edu/News_and_Events/News_Releases/VT_Law_School_Launches_Energy_Security_and_Justice_Project.htm . March 13, 2012 .
5. Web site: Environment, Energy, and Resources Dedication to Diversity and Justice Award - Past Award Recipients . ABA . 2016-01-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040238/http://www.americanbar.org/groups/environment_energy_resources/awards/diversity_justice_award/past_recipients.html . 2016-03-04 . dead .
6. Web site: Professor Benjamin Sovacool . Aarhus University q.
7. Web site: Keynote speakers . Aarhus University . 2013 . PMA 2014 Conference . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130912102600/http://icoa.au.dk/conferences-workshops/pma-2014-conference/keynote-speakers/ . 2013-09-12 .
8. Web site: Benjamin Sovacool joins Sussex Energy Group . University of Sussex .
9. Web site: Benjamin K. Sovacool Biography . Vermont Law School . 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130528180549/http://www.vermontlaw.edu/our_faculty/faculty_directory/benjamin_k_sovacool.htm . 2013-05-28 .
10. Web site: Source details: Energy Research & Social Science . . Scopus preview . 2017-02-02.
11. https://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy-research-and-social-science/news/energy-research-social-science-tops-recent-journal-rankings|title= Energy Research & Social Science tops recent journal rankings
12. Web site: Benjamin Sovacool - User profile. 2022-09-20. Google Scholar. 2022-09-20.
13. Sioshansi . Fereidoon P. . Energy and American Society—Thirteen Myths, B. Sovacool, M. Brown (Eds.). Springer, Berlin (2007, : 978-1-4020-5563-8, 371pp., $79.95 . Energy Policy . December 2007 . 35 . 12 . 6554–6555 . 10.1016/j.enpol.2007.08.008 .
14. Pasqualetti . Martin J. . Martin J. Pasqualetti . 2008 . Review of Energy and American Society--Thirteen Myths, B. Sovacool, M. Brown (eds.) . . 8 . 2 . 504–505 . 10.1080/00045600801944210. 128859012 .
15. http://www.vermontlaw.edu/Documents/facultyCV/Sovacool-CV-2-page.pdf Curriculum Vitae: Dr. Benjamin K. Sovacool
16. Book: Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power . Benjamin K. Sovacool . 2011 . . 248–250 . 10.1142/7895 . 978-981-4322-75-1 .
17. Lawrence . Andrew . Sovacool . Benjamin . Stirling . Andrew . RETRACTED ARTICLE: Nuclear energy and path dependence in Europe's 'Energy union': coherence or continued divergence? . Climate Policy . 3 July 2016 . 16 . 5 . 622–641 . 10.1080/14693062.2016.1179616 . free .
18. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20160823165928/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160822111807.htm. Pro-nuclear countries making slower progress on climate targets. dead. 23 August 2016. Science News. 22 August 2016. 9 October 2020.
19. Web site: Refutation of recent Climate Policy paper written by Lawrence, Sovacool & Stirling. 2 September 2016. 9 October 2020.
20. Web site: A Response to Lawrence, Sovacool, and Stirling. Nicholas. Thompson. 12 October 2016. 9 October 2020.
21. Authorial statement of article withdrawal. Andrew. Lawrence. Benjamin. Sovacool. Andrew. Stirling. Climate Policy. 16. 5. 2016. ri-rii. 10.1080/14693062.2016.1260249. 157939679.
22. Sovacool . Benjamin K. . Schmid . Patrick . Stirling . Andy . Walter . Goetz . MacKerron . Gordon . Differences in carbon emissions reduction between countries pursuing renewable electricity versus nuclear power . Nature Energy . November 2020 . 5 . 11 . 928–935 . 10.1038/s41560-020-00696-3 . 2020NatEn...5..928S . 225107514 .
23. Web site: Two's a crowd: Nuclear and renewables don't mix. Only the latter can deliver truly low carbon energy says new study. Neil. Vowles. News. University of Sussex. 5 October 2020. 9 October 2020.
24. News: Nuclear power won't solve climate change - study. Dan. Satherley. 9 October 2020. 9 October 2020. Newshub.
25. Fell . Harrison . Gilbert . Alexander . Jenkins . Jesse . Mildenberger . Matto . Reply to 'Differences in Carbon Emissions Reduction between Countries Pursuing Renewable Electricity Versus Nuclear Power,' by Sovacool Et Al. (2020) . 8 January 2021 . 3762762 . 10.2139/ssrn.3762762 . 234183759 .
26. CO2 emissions of nuclear power and renewable energies: a statistical analysis of European and global data. The European Physical Journal Plus. Wagner. Friedrich. 2021-05-20. 136. 5. 562. 10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-01508-7. 2021EPJP..136..562W. free.
27. Sovacool . Benjamin K. . Schmid . Patrick . Stirling . Andy . Walter . Goetz . MacKerron . Gordon . Reply to: Nuclear power and renewable energy are both associated with national decarbonization . Nature Energy . January 2022 . 7 . 1 . 30–31 . 10.1038/s41560-021-00965-9 . 2022NatEn...7...30S . 246363862 .