Renewable Energy Technologies and Implications on Human Health: A Multi-level Perspective

This chapter explores the interdependencies between renewable energy technologies (RETs) and their social and health implications in the abatement of climate change. Research shows that the production and deployment of RETs impacts greatly on biodiversity which anchors the biopsychosocial health of their host communities. Hence, the prospect of an actors-led socio-technical system in the governance of innovative knowledge required to drive progress and resilience in the shift from fossil fuel-led energy consumption to renewables was explored through the lens of Multi-level Perspective (MLP). The MLP transition theory was used as a framing in the understanding of the socio-technical transformation brought on by the deployment of RETs and the role of actors as well as their agency within the RET innovation process.