Considering distributive justice as a planning principle helps navigate a diversity of future energy infrastructure designs

Abstract The low-carbon energy transition could receive broader societal support if it also delivers a more just distribution of burdens and benefits. However, achieving more just systems in practice is complicated by contested interpretations of justice, conflicting system impacts, and overarching technical system constraints. To resolve these challenges, we develop a set of indicators for distributive justice based on justice theory and current policy to assess low-carbon and low-cost European energy system designs. We find that accounting for distributive justice can help narrow the field of technically viable system design choices without introducing substantive cost trade-offs. Considering public opinion to create a balanced approach to distributive justice produces more consistent continental-level technology capacity recommendations than provided by theory alone, showing the value of considering public opinion in systems-level energy planning. Our results support policymakers in enabling a sustainable energy transition that is also just.