ABSTRACT
In today’s discourse about future technologies, ethical considerations often take place at the end of technological developments. In this contribution we argue that a necessary step, though certainly not sufficient one, in order to regain agency in complex sociotechnical systems such as the energy system is to turn this around and put the normative reasoning at the starting point of the discussion. This implies first a need for the regulatory framework to (partially) precede the technological and societal developments so that the future paths of the latter are (partially) subject to conscious choice. Second, it means to realize that the straightforward equation of “sustainable” with “renewable” in the context of energy may be premature. We suggest considering the capability approach as one possible normative framework and argue as to why it seems to provide normative guidance suited to energy systems. This includes, for example, a way of addressing the uncertainty of future generations’ preferences. Characteristics of a capability assessment of energy technologies are devised.
