Social Capital and Energy Transition: A Conceptual Review

Abstract

The impact of social factors in energy transition has become increasingly important in recent decades. In this context, Social Capital (SC) has been used to give greater importance to social aspects that can influence community involvement in the energy transition. Two approaches were used to select the academic literature on SC and energy transition for this review, (1) a keyword search through the main bibliographical databases to ascertain the number of articles on this topic and (2) a theoretical investigation of certain aspects that unite or differentiate the various articles. Specifically, this review paper considers the different definitions given to SC in the energy field, the dimensions and indicators of SC considered in different studies, and the methods, qualitative or quantitative, used to operationalise SC. The review stresses some weaknesses in the literature, such as the split in the definition of SC in relation to the energy transition, the interaction of SC with social rather than individual factors of the person, and indicators of SC that can influence, positively or negatively, energy transition. A shared methodology should be developed with a multidisciplinary approach that would allow SC to be considered in its totality.