Abstract
Within the context of an energy transition towards achieving a renewable low-impact energy consumption system, this study analyses how bottom-up initiatives can contribute to state driven top-down efforts to achieve the sustainability related goals of (1) reducing total primary energy consumption; (2) reducing residential electricity and heat consumption; and (3) increasing generated renewable energy and even attaining self-sufficiency. After identifying the three most cited German bottom-up energy transition cases, the initiatives have been qualitatively and quantitatively analysed. The case study methodology has been used and each initiative has been examined in order to assess and compare these with the German national panorama. The novel results of the analysis demonstrate the remarkable effects of communal living, cooperative investment and participatory processes on the creation of a new sustainable energy system. The study supports the claim that bottom-up initiatives could also contribute to energy sustainability goals together within the state driven plans. Furthermore, the research proves that the analysed bottom-up transitions are not only environmentally and socially beneficial but they can also be economically feasible, at least in a small scale, such as the current German national top-down energy policy panorama.
Highlights
The need to change the current energy system is an accepted fact on a global level
The analysis takes into account the energy consumption reduction accomplished and the self-produced renewable energy
In Feldheim, the total primary energy supply (TPES) is 42% lower than the national average, but in this case the energy consumed by the village from the outside in the form of goods and services needs to be calculated more accurately in future analysis
Summary
The need to change the current energy system is an accepted fact on a global level. Burning fossil fuels is one of the most important factors behind global warming according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The impending phenomenon known as peak oil means that the current energy system based on fossil fuels should be shifted towards the consumption of other resources. The current fossil-fuel based energy system, from a social fairness perspective, is creating unjust situations in the Global South: the emotional impact of oil spills [3], the social impact of new electricity grids in remote regions [4], the impact of oil extraction [5], the impact of pipeline constructions in rural areas [6], and/or the energy poverty arising from inequalities in the energy distribution processes [7]. There have been increases in energy poverty in the Global North, for instance, in the European Union (EU), where 10.8% of inhabitants have experienced difficulties in keeping their homes warm and a similar percentage in paying their electricity bill [8]
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