Abstract
The energy transition enables more spatially and economically distributed means of organising energy generation, leading to changes in how energy systems are integrated into societies around the world. This chapter analyses the institutional contexts that support a specific social form of energy ownership—community-owned renewable energy (CORE)—and explores its impacts at local and national levels in the context of energy transitions. To this purpose, we analyse bottom-up developments in Germany and Australia. Concluding, CORE has a unique contribution to make, particularly in generating the social conditions that facilitate a rapid and smooth transition in which a range of stakeholders participate and benefit. Less community involvement in the transition risks losing public participation and acceptance, which could jeopardise or slow energy system transformation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
ACT Government 2015, Community solar, viewed 20 May 2015, <http://www.environment.act.gov.au/energy/community_solar>.
AEE 2014, Renews Kompakt: großteil der erneuerbaren energien kommt aus bürgerhand [Majority of the renewable energy comes from citizens], Agentur für erneuerbare energien, Germany, <https://www.unendlich-viel-energie.de/media/file/284.AEE_RenewsKompakt_Buergerenergie.pdf>.
Bauwens, T & Devine-Wright, P 2018, ‘Positive energies? An empirical study of community energy participation and attitudes to renewable energy’, Energy Policy, vol. 118, August, pp. 612–625, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.03.062.
BMWE 2018, Erneuerbare energien, Bundesministerium fuer Wirtschaft und Energie, Germany, viewed 3 December 2018, <https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Dossier/erneuerbare-energien.html>.
Bontrup, H & Marquardt, R 2015, Die Zukunft der großen Energieversorger, Greenpeace Studie [The future of the big energy suppliers, Greenpeace study], Hamburg, <https://www.greenpeace.de/sites/www.greenpeace.de/files/publications/zukunft-energieversorgung-studie-20150309.pdf>.
Bridge, G, Bouzarovski, S, Bradshaw, M & Eyre, N 2013, ‘Geographies of energy transition: space, place and the low-carbon economy’, Energy Policy, vol. 53, pp. 331–340, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.066.
Clean Energy Regulator 2018, REC Registry—small-scale installations—December 2018, Canberra, <http://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/RET/Forms-and-resources/Postcode-data-for-small-scale-installations> (Accessed 3 December 2018)>.
DECC 2014, Community energy strategy: full report, Department of Energy and Climate Change, United Kingdom Government, Westminster.
Devine-Wright, P 2005, ‘Local aspects of UK renewable energy development: exploring public beliefs and policy implications’, Local Environment, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 57–69, https://doi.org/10.1080/1354983042000309315.
Devine-Wright, P 2011, ‘Public engagement with renewable energy: introduction’, in P Devine-Wright (ed.), Renewable energy and the public: from NIMBY to participation, Earthscan, London, pp. xxi–xxx.
DGRV 2016, DGRV-Jahresumfrage unter Energiegenossenschaften: gründungszahlen weiter rückläufig [DGRV-annual survey amongs the energy cooperatives: founding numbers continuous to decline], [press release], viewed 17 August 2016, <http://www.genossenschaften.de/dgrv-jahresumfrage-unter-energiegenossenschaften-gr-ndungszahlen-weiter-r-ckl-ufig>.
Eadson, W & Foden, M 2014, ‘Editorial: critical perspectives on community energy’, People, Place and Policy, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 145–148, https://doi.org/10.3351/ppp.0008.0003.0001.
Falkenberg, D, Weiß, T & Nehls, G 2014, Vorhaben iIe stromerzeugung aus windenergie wissenschaftlicher bericht [Intentions ILe power generation from wind energy scientific report], Leipziger Institut für Energie, Leipzig.
Finkel, A, Moses, K, Munro, C, Effeney, T & O’Kane, M 2017, Independent review into the future security of the national electricity market, Final Report to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Energy Council, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra, Australia, <https://www.energy.gov.au/sites/default/files/independent-review-future-nem-emissions-mitigation-policies-2017.pdf>.
Gottschalk, M, Hoppenbrock, C, Kucharczak, C, Schäfer, S, Wetzel, H & Wilkens, I 2016, Regionale wertschöpfung in der windindustrie am beispiel nordhessen, IdE Institut dezentrale Energietechnologien, Kassel, Germany, <https://www.uni-kassel.de/fb07/fileadmin/datas/fb07/5-Institute/IVWL/Wetzel/Regionale_Wertschöpfung_in_der_Windindustrie.pdf>.
Hicks, J 2018, Community power: understanding the outcomes and impacts from community-owned wind energy projects in small regional communities, PhD thesis, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Hicks, J & Ison, N 2012. ‘Community energy generation’, in Allan Shepherd, Paul Allen, Peter Harper, Nicky Ison & Jarra Hicks (eds), The home energy handbook: a guide to saving and generating energy in your home and community, Centre for Alternative Technology Publications, Machynlleth, Powys, UK, pp. 185–210.
Hicks, J & Ison, N 2018, ‘An exploration of the boundaries of “community” in community renewable energy projects: navigating between motivations and context’, Energy Policy, vol. 113, June, pp. 523–534, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.10.031.
Hicks, J, Ison, N, Gilding, J & Mey, F 2014, Community owned renewable energy: a how-to guide, commissioned by the Office of Environment and Heritage, Government of New South Wales, Community Power Agency, Sydney, Australia.
Hicks, J, Lane, T, Wood, E & Hall, N 2018, Enhancing positive social outcomes from wind farm development: evaluating community engagement and benefit-sharing in Australia, Clean Energy Council, Melbourne, Australia.
Hoffman, S, Fudge, S, Pawlisch, L, High-Pippert, A, Peters, M & Haskard, J 2013, ‘Public values and community energy: lessons from the US and UK’, Sustainability, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 1747–1763, https://doi.org/10.3390/su5041747.
IEA 2013, Energiepolitik der IEA-länder Deutschland prüfung 2013 [Energy policy of the IEA-countries Germany assessment 2013], Paris, <https://webstore.iea.org/energiepolitik-der-iea-länder-deutschland-2013>.
Ison, N 2018, Personal correspondence by Jarra Hicks with Nicky Ison, Founding Director Community Power Agency and Former Secretariat of C4CE, Sydney.
Koirala, BP, Araghi, Y, Kroesen, M, Ghorbani, A, Hakvoort, RA & Herder, PM 2018, ‘Trust, awareness, and independence: insights from a socio-psychological factor analysis of citizen knowledge and participation in community energy systems’, Energy Research and Social Science, vol. 38, January, pp. 33–40, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.01.009.
Kruse, J & Maegaard, P 2012, ‘Own research/interview by Jarra Hicks about Danish community energy context and characteristics at the Nordic Folk Center for Renewable Energy’, Hurup Thy, Denmark.
Local Energy Scotland 2017, Scottish government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), viewed 19 January 2017, <http://www.localenergyscotland.org/>.
MacArthur, J 2016, Empowering electricity: cooperatives, sustainability and power sector reform in Canada, UBC Press, Vancouver.
Mautz, R, Byzio, A & Rosenbaum, W 2008, Auf dem weg zur energiewende die entwicklung der stromproduktion aus erneuerbaren energien in Deutschland [On the way to the energy transition the development of power generation from renewable energies in Germany], Universitätsverlag Göttingen, Göttingen, <http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/univerlag/2008/energiewende.pdf>.
Mey, F 2017, Development of community renewable energy and the role of institutional factors: a three country comparison, PhD thesis, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Mey, F & Diesendorf, M 2018, ‘Who owns an energy transition? Strategic action fields and community wind energy in Denmark’, Energy Research and Social Science, vol. 35, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.10.044.
Mey, F, Diesendorf, M & MacGill, I 2016, ‘Can local government play a greater role for community renewable energy? A case study from Australia’, Energy Research & Social Science, vol. 21, pp. 33–43, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.06.019.
Mey, F & Hicks, J 2015, ‘Community renewable energy in Australia: exploring its character & emergence as a social movement in the context of climate action’, in Governance of Social Enterprises stream, EMES 5th Conference: Building a scientific field to foster the social enterprise eco-system, Helsinki, p. 26.
Morris, C & Jungjohann, A 2016, Energy democracy: Germany’s energiewende to renewables, Palgrave Macmillan, London, UK, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31891-2.
NSW Government 2018, Regional community energy, viewed 15 October 2018, <https://energy.nsw.gov.au/renewables/clean-energy-initiatives/regional-community-energy>.
Okkonen, L & Lehtonen, O 2016, ‘Socio-economic impacts of community wind power projects in Northern Scotland’, Renewable Energy, vol. 85, pp. 826–833, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2015.07.047.
Parkinson, G 2018, How Australia will get to 33% renewable electricity by 2020, RenewEconomy, viewed 3 December 2018, <https://reneweconomy.com.au/how-australia-will-get-to-33-renewable-electricity-by-2020-2030/>.
Patterson, W 2007, ‘Electric opportunities’, European Energy Review, vol. 1, no. 1.
Rosenbaum, W & Mautz, R 2011, ‘Energie und gesellschaft: die soziale dynamik der fossilen und der erneubaren energien [Energy and society: the social dynamic of the fossil and renewable energy]’, in M Groß (ed.), Handbuch umweltsoziologie, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden, pp. 399–420.
Schweizer-Ries, P, Rau, I, Zoellner, Nolting, K, Rupp, J & Keppler, D 2010, Aktivität und teilhabe – akzeptanz erneuerbarer energien durch beteiligung steigern [Activity and participation—increase the acceptance of renewable energies through participation], Federal Ministry of the Environment, Berlin.
Setton, D 2016, Breite Mehrheit will Befreiung von Ausschreibungspflicht für Bürgerenergie und kleine Akteure [Broad majority wants exemption from the tender obligation for citizen energy and small actors], Bündnis Bürgerenergie e.V., Berlin.
Seyfang, G, Park, JJ & Smith, A 2013, ‘A thousand flowers blooming? An examination of community energy in the UK’, Energy Policy, vol. 61, pp. 977–989, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.06.030.
Smith, A & Ely, A 2015, ‘Green transformations from below? The politics of grassroots innovation’, in I Scoones, M Leach & P Newell (eds), The politics of green transformations, Routledge, London, pp. 102–118.
State Government of Victoria 2018, Community power hubs, viewed 15 October 2018, <http://www.communitypowerhub.com.au/>.
Walker, G & Devine-Wright, P 2008, ‘Community renewable energy: what should it mean?’, Energy Policy, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 497–500, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2007.10.019.
Warren, CR & McFadyen, M 2010, ‘Does community ownership affect public attitudes to wind energy? A case study from south-west Scotland’, Land Use Policy, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 204–213, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2008.12.010.
Yildiz, Ö, Rommel, J, Debor, S, Holstenkamp, L, Mey, F, Müller, JR et al. 2015, ‘Renewable energy cooperatives as gatekeepers or facilitators? Recent developments in Germany and a multidisciplinary research agenda’, Energy Research and Social Science, vol. 6, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2014.12.001.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mey, F., Hicks, J. (2019). Community Owned Renewable Energy: Enabling the Transition Towards Renewable Energy?. In: Newton, P., Prasad, D., Sproul, A., White, S. (eds) Decarbonising the Built Environment. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7940-6_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7940-6_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-7939-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-7940-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)