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Innovating the Energy System toward Decarbonization through Collective and Citizen-Driven...
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Innovating the Energy System toward Decarbonization through Collective and Citizen-Driven Energy Actions

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "B: Energy and Environment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (27 June 2024) | Viewed by 10019

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Roberta Roberto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Energy, ENEA, Roma, Italy
Interests: energy systems; low-carbon energy transition; energy planning and implementation strategies; renewable energies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Giacomo Falchetta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis & Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Italy
Interests: energy and development; water energy food Nexus; climate change impacts; geospatial data; applied econometrics
Dr. Michel Noussan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
Interests: mobility; energy; renewables; energy efficiency
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are inviting submissions to the Energies Special Issue on “Innovating the Energy System toward Decarbonization through Collective and Citizen-Driven Energy Actions”.

Community energy initiatives are providing new opportunities for citizens to be actively involved in energy issues. Individual consumers and their collective forms will play a major role in the future energy system. The participation of citizens and communities as partners in energy projects is already transforming the energy system, with a growing number of initiatives launched around the world and particularly in Europe, following the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II). Local energy initiatives are majority-owned by local members or shareholders who are allowed to share energy within the community, offering the potential to unlock private investment and financing for renewable energy sources and provide social benefits. In addition, bottom-up energy actions can act as a trigger for public policy-making, providing momentum to implement ambitious national and international decarbonization strategies.

The successful implementation of community energy actions involves multiple factors and touches on different areas: technological, financial, social, territorial development, and others. There is no "one-size-fits-all" solution; each initiative has to meet specific territorial characteristics. At the same time, it is important to create enabling frameworks and simplify the legal, regulatory and financial frameworks suited to different contexts. The development of energy communities, in the various forms that they take in different areas, raises important questions dealing with regulatory, economic, environmental and social aspects. Establishing energy communities requires guiding decision-making processes by combining technical analysis, spatial planning and social aspects combined with energy democracy frameworks that improve the inclusion of vulnerable consumers in the energy transition.

This Special Issue is dedicated to papers analysing the initiatives underway in various countries and regions around the world and possible strategies for the implementation of successful schemes/approaches able to support a fair energy transition and reduce energy poverty through bottom-up social engagement driven by community needs. Papers focusing on technology options and solutions, system and power grid simulations, energy efficiency and environmental benefits are also welcome.

In addition to discussing the possible organisational forms and business models, it is interesting to discuss their benefits and potential, their contributions to the expansion of renewable energy, as well as to analyse their impacts on the energy system, the options for implementing cross-sectoral initiatives (e.g., food and mobility) and fostering the relationship between rural and urban areas.

Dr. Roberta Roberto
Dr. Giacomo Falchetta
Dr. Michel Noussan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • energy communities
  • renewables
  • energy efficiency
  • energy democracy

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 18009 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Increasing Aggregation Levels of Electrical Consumption Data on Renewable Energy Community (REC) Analyses
by Marco Raugi, Valentina Consolo and Roberto Rugani
Energies 2024, 17(18), 4647; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17184647 - 18 Sep 2024
Viewed by 989
Abstract
The growing number of renewable energy communities (RECs) exemplifies the potential of citizen-driven actions towards a more sustainable future. However, obtaining hourly measured consumption data from REC members remains challenging, hindering accurate feasibility studies for the development of communities. This study examines the [...] Read more.
The growing number of renewable energy communities (RECs) exemplifies the potential of citizen-driven actions towards a more sustainable future. However, obtaining hourly measured consumption data from REC members remains challenging, hindering accurate feasibility studies for the development of communities. This study examines the impact of estimating hourly consumption from aggregated data on REC analysis results. A case study with real consumption data from diverse users, representative of a typical community in Tuscany, Italy, was analysed to investigate various influencing factors. Multiple scenarios were simulated: two open-source tools estimated energy production from the community’s PV plants, and two REC configurations were considered—one with consumers and prosumers and another with consumers and a producer (with the same total installed power). Additionally, three locations were evaluated to consider the importance of geographical positioning. The study revealed that the impact of consumption data aggregation is more significant in scenarios with low energy sharing, such as the scenario where prosumers were replaced with a producer. Geographical positioning showed no major discrepancies in energy and economic outcomes, implying that using estimated hourly consumption data from aggregated data has a relevant impact regardless of location. Furthermore, different weather files did not affect the impact of aggregated consumption data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovating the Energy System toward Decarbonization through Collective and Citizen-Driven Energy Actions)
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15 pages, 3533 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Energy Community Composition on Its Technical and Economic Performance
by Margherita Povolato, Alessandro Prada, Sara Verones, Silvia Debiasi and Paolo Baggio
Energies 2023, 16(14), 5247; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16145247 - 8 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1551
Abstract
European policies are promoting energy communities and energy sharing to decarbonize the energy system through increased penetration of renewables thereby reducing European energy dependency. However, the implementation of energy communities takes place following different patterns, and it is not entirely clear how the [...] Read more.
European policies are promoting energy communities and energy sharing to decarbonize the energy system through increased penetration of renewables thereby reducing European energy dependency. However, the implementation of energy communities takes place following different patterns, and it is not entirely clear how the composition may affect community performance. This research evaluates and compares different energy-sharing scenarios at technical and economic levels. Several possible energy community solutions are evaluated. Analyses are conducted by combining the monitored electricity consumption of industries, services, and residential buildings with simulated photovoltaic production and heating consumption. The results highlight the conflict between the economic goal and the objective of maximizing the self-sufficiency of the energy community. The Italian incentive scheme currently makes it possible to double the economic value of the energy fed into the grid if physical self-consumption and shared energy reach 90% of the energy produced. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovating the Energy System toward Decarbonization through Collective and Citizen-Driven Energy Actions)
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19 pages, 326 KiB  
Article
Understanding Energy Citizenship: How Cultural Capital Shapes the Energy Transition
by Sikke R. Jansma, Le Anh Nguyen Long and Dasom Lee
Energies 2023, 16(5), 2106; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16052106 - 21 Feb 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4092
Abstract
Community involvement and citizenship have been crucial drivers in energy transitions worldwide. To deepen our understanding of the energy transition and to further promote energy citizenship, we leverage Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital to shed light on the inequities in community-centered energy transition [...] Read more.
Community involvement and citizenship have been crucial drivers in energy transitions worldwide. To deepen our understanding of the energy transition and to further promote energy citizenship, we leverage Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital to shed light on the inequities in community-centered energy transition processes. More specifically, this study demonstrates that cultural capital is an important indicator of an individual’s willingness to participate in renewable energy-related behavior and social movements. Using survey data in the Netherlands as a case study, it finds that depending on the type of energy citizenship, i.e., material participation (investments) or communicative participation (protest), different types of cultural capital are in play. The results of this study imply that a nuanced approach towards both concepts, namely energy citizenship and cultural capital, is needed. The scholarly and practical implications of this study are discussed, and the study concludes with pathways for more comprehensive community engagement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovating the Energy System toward Decarbonization through Collective and Citizen-Driven Energy Actions)

Review

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29 pages, 474 KiB  
Review
Mapping of Energy Community Development in Europe: State of the Art and Research Directions
by Roberta Roberto, Gabriella Ferruzzi, Viviana Negro and Michel Noussan
Energies 2023, 16(18), 6554; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16186554 - 12 Sep 2023
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2524
Abstract
Within the framework of defining a new energy paradigm to address climate change and other global challenges, the energy community model is gaining interest in several countries, especially in Europe. This article analyses the literature and experiences of organisational forms that fall under [...] Read more.
Within the framework of defining a new energy paradigm to address climate change and other global challenges, the energy community model is gaining interest in several countries, especially in Europe. This article analyses the literature and experiences of organisational forms that fall under the definition of energy communities in a broad sense, in relation to their ability to bring improvements to the social, environmental and economic dimensions, and to ensure durability and replicability. The main elements that constitute a complete, albeit simplified, model of energy community are identified and analysed. The legislative and regulatory frameworks, technologies and social innovation frameworks, identified here as enabling elements, are discussed, as well as the elements of the energy community business models and the impacts generated at the environmental and energy, economic and social levels. The transformation potential of energy communities is confirmed as more than promising. However, in order to develop as a sustainable and replicable model capable of achieving social and environmental goals, as well as economic stability, further significant research and experimentation, following a cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary approach and strong political leadership, are needed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovating the Energy System toward Decarbonization through Collective and Citizen-Driven Energy Actions)
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