ABSTRACT
Statistical accounting of the impacts of citizen-led energy initiatives is absent, despite their impact on increased energy self-sufficiency and ramping up of renewable energies, local sustainable development, greater citizen engagement, diversification of activities, social innovation, and acceptance of transition measures. This paper quantifies the aggregate contributions of collective action in pursuit of the sustainable energy transition in Europe. We estimate the number of initiatives (10,540), projects (22,830), people involved (2,010,600), installed renewable capacities (7.2-9.9 GW), and investments made (6.2-11.3 billion EUR) for 30 European countries. Our aggregate estimates do not suggest that collective action will replace commercial enterprises and governmental action in the short or medium term without fundamental alterations to policy and market structures. However, we find strong evidence for the historical, emerging, and actual importance of citizen-led collective action to the European energy transition. Collective action in the energy transition is experimenting successfully with new business models in the energy sector. Continued decentralization of energy systems and more stringent decarbonization policies will increase the importance of these actors in the future.
ABSTRACT
Numerous case studies show that citizens engage in various ways in renewable and low carbon energy projects, thereby contributing to the sustainable energy transition. To date, however, a systematic and cross-country database on citizen-led initiatives and projects is lacking. By performing a major compilation and reviewing copious data sources from websites to official registries, we provide a Europe-wide inventory with over 10,000 initiatives and 16,000 production units in 29 countries, focusing on the past 20 years. Our data allow cross-country statistical analysis, supporting the elicitation of empirical insights capable of extending beyond the perspective of single case studies. Our data also align with ongoing efforts to implement two EU Directives that aim at strengthening the active role of citizens in the energy transition. While the focus of our data collection is on Europe, the data and methodology can contribute to the global analysis of citizen-led energy action.
ABSTRACT
With the continued digitization of the energy sector, the problem of sunken scholarly data investments and forgone opportunities of harvesting existing data is exacerbating. It compounds the problem that the reproduction of knowledge is incomplete, impeding the transparency of science-based targets for the choices made in the energy transition. The FAIR data guiding principles are widely acknowledged as a way forward, but their operationalization is yet to be agreed upon within different research domains. We comprehensively test FAIR data practices in the low carbon energy research domain. 80 databases representative for data needed to support the low carbon energy transition are screened. Automated and manual tests are used to document the state-of-the art and provide insights on bottlenecks from the human and machine perspectives. We propose action items for overcoming the problem with FAIR energy data and suggest how to prioritize activities.
Subject(s)
Carbon , Data Management , Databases, Factual , HumansABSTRACT
The digitalization of the energy sector is in progress, but Europe is about to fall behind. A human-centered design approach ensures that it takes place with, and for the benefit of, people, for which this letter puts forward policy recommendations. People need access to tailored and ready-for-use tools that help the realization of societal co-benefits, bring individual gains, remove human burdens, and ensure just participation of all societal groups. Substantial additional intellectual and financial resources are required for the development of digital tools and products to seize opportunities for citizens to engage, in the energy transition, optimize energy consumption, and manage active participation.
