The long term future for community energy in Great Britain: A co-created vision of a thriving sector and steps towards realising it
| Autor: | Jeffrey Hardy, Sarah Mander, Iain Cairns, Edward Manderson, Matthew Hannon, Tim Braunholtz-Speight, Carly McLachlan, Maria Sharmina |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (E |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
HD
Flexibility (engineering) Government 1604 Human Geography Renewable Energy Sustainability and the Environment business.industry 020209 energy Energy Engineering and Power Technology 02 engineering and technology 010501 environmental sciences Business model Energy transition 01 natural sciences Renewable energy Fuel Technology Nuclear Energy and Engineering Thriving 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering Business Economic system 1605 Policy and Administration Social Sciences (miscellaneous) Backcasting 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Efficient energy use |
| Zdroj: | Braunholtz-Speight, T, McLachlan, C, Mander, S, Hannon, M, Hardy, J, Cairns, I, Sharmina, M & Manderson, E 2021, ' The long term future for community energy in Great Britain: a co-created vision of a thriving sector and steps towards realising it ', Energy Research & Social Science, vol. 78, 102044 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102044 |
| ISSN: | 2214-6296 |
| Popis: | Explorations of the longer-term potential for community energy to contribute to the energy transition can shape policy and practice today. However, much community energy research in Great Britain is currently, and understandably, focussed on short-term responses to the crisis in the sector induced by recent shifts in policy support. Therefore, we held a series of visioning and backcasting workshops with community energy practitioners and other stakeholders, to co-create a vision of a long term future where there is a thriving community energy sector.This paper presents the results of those workshops. Using the concept of business models to interrogate how community energy could be structured in the future, we find that the sector could diversify from its current focus on renewable electricity generation and energy efficiency, into new areas of the energy system: demand-side flexibility, mobility and heat. We also see potential for a Community Energy Confederation to help bridge the gap between the strengths of local organising, and the opportunities offered by larger scale activities. We identify the importance of actions by government – both at national and local level – to realising this vision, in combination with the efforts of the community energy sector itself of course. We conclude that our research highlights the need for change in the institutional and spatial character of community energy; the sector’s pragmatic attitude to the technological aspects of the energy transition; and its focus on community energy’s role in delivering social and environmental co-benefits, in line with the concept of a just transition. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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