Renewable Energy Prosumers in Mediterranean Viticulture Social–Ecological Systems
1
Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (CE3C), Faculty of Sciences, Lisbon University, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal
2
Sustainability Plan for Wines of Alentejo, Comissão Vitivinícola Regional Alentejana, 7005-485 Évora, Portugal
3
Ecosystem management, Esporão SA, 1400-315 Lisboa, Portugal
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2019, 11(23), 6781; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236781
Received: 8 November 2019
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Revised: 22 November 2019
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Accepted: 27 November 2019
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Published: 29 November 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Locally Available Energy Sources and Sustainability)
The significant energy demands of wine production pose both a challenge and an opportunity for adopting a low-carbon, more sustainable and potentially less expensive energy model. Nevertheless, the (dis)incentives for the wider adoption of local production and self-consumption of energy (also known as “prosumerism”) from renewable energy sources (RESs) are still not sufficiently addressed, nor are the broader social–ecological benefits of introducing RES as part of a sustainable viticulture strategy. Drawing on the social–ecological systems (SESs) resilience framework, this article presents the results of a Living Lab (an action-research approach) implemented in Alentejo (South of Portugal), which is an important wine-producing Mediterranean region. The triangulation of results from the application of a multi-method approach, including quantitative and qualitative methods, provided an understanding of the constraining and enabling factors for individual and collective RES prosumer initiatives. Top enablers are related to society’s expectation for a greener wine production, but also the responsibility to contribute to reducing carbon emissions and energy costs; meanwhile, the top constraints are financial, legal and technological. The conclusions offer some policy implications and avenues for future research.
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Keywords:
prosumers; renewable energy sources; Mediterranean wineries; constraints and enablers; social–ecological system; resilience
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MDPI and ACS Style
Campos, I.; Marín-González, E.; Luz, G.; Barroso, J.; Oliveira, N. Renewable Energy Prosumers in Mediterranean Viticulture Social–Ecological Systems. Sustainability 2019, 11, 6781. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236781
AMA Style
Campos I, Marín-González E, Luz G, Barroso J, Oliveira N. Renewable Energy Prosumers in Mediterranean Viticulture Social–Ecological Systems. Sustainability. 2019; 11(23):6781. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236781
Chicago/Turabian StyleCampos, Ines, Esther Marín-González, Guilherme Luz, João Barroso, and Nuno Oliveira. 2019. "Renewable Energy Prosumers in Mediterranean Viticulture Social–Ecological Systems" Sustainability 11, no. 23: 6781. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236781
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