Focus on community energy and infrastructure resilience

Context and agency in urban community energy initiatives: An analysis of six case studies from the Baltic Sea Region

Grassroots innovations in community energy: The role of intermediaries in niche development

Situating community energy in development history: Place-making and identity politics in the Taromak 100% green energy tribe initiative, Taiwan

The promotion of community energy projects in Chile and Scotland: An economic approach using biform games

Urban energy systems are facing disruption at the same time as cities are increasingly focusing on sustainability. Community energy projects are increasingly gaining attention as systems that can deliver on the promise of sustainable growth and may even serve as a model for the future of energy planning, especially in an urban context. With the decreasing cost of modular generation technologies, it is increasingly feasible to generate local energy in urban areas. Not only is there potential for an economic benefit, but people are also empowered from being end of the line consumers to ‘prosumers’. This paper explores the landscape for urban community energy projects with community involvement in ownership and management. Different models of ownership and management are examined and a spectrum of citizen participation in community energy is described. Various motivations for participation in community energy projects are identified. Interviews with representatives of key stakeholder groups were conducted to assess the theoretical foundation of the research and to refine a survey given to 270 residents of households located in the City of Toronto. The results were used to determine consumer/prosumer choices towards participation in local community generation and utilisation of renewable energy. This study shows that there is heterogeneity in the ways citizens can participate in community energy in an urban context. Relying on principal component factor analysis to identify the inferential variables associated with four motivating factors, namely Financial, Social Norms, Environmental and Community Concerns, and Trust in Technology, correlations with certain descriptive variables were examined. Stepwise multiple regression was used to identify respective models of causality between these motivating factors and three common models of community energy participation. The analysis shows that most residents in a Canadian urban centre prefer a more passive participatory role and that the financial factor remains the principle motivator. The results have implications for urban energy planning including the need for more utility and industry collaboration with urban community members.

Urban energy systems are facing disruption at the same time as cities are increasingly focusing on sustainability. Community energy projects are increasingly gaining attention as systems that can deliver on the promise of sustainable growth and may even serve as a model for the future of energy planning, especially in an urban context. With the decreasing cost of modular generation technologies, it is increasingly feasible to generate local energy in urban areas. Not only is there potential for an economic benefit, but people are also empowered from being end of the line consumers to ‘prosumers’. This paper explores the landscape for urban community energy projects with community involvement in ownership and management. Different models of ownership and management are examined and a spectrum of citizen participation in community energy is described. Various motivations for participation in community energy projects are identified. Interviews with representatives of key stakeholder groups were conducted to assess the theoretical foundation of the research and to refine a survey given to 270 residents of households located in the City of Toronto. The results were used to determine consumer/prosumer choices towards participation in local community generation and utilisation of renewable energy. This study shows that there is heterogeneity in the ways citizens can participate in community energy in an urban context. Relying on principal component factor analysis to identify the inferential variables associated with four motivating factors, namely Financial, Social Norms, Environmental and Community Concerns, and Trust in Technology, correlations with certain descriptive variables were examined. Stepwise multiple regression was used to identify respective models of causality between these motivating factors and three common models of community energy participation. The analysis shows that most residents in a Canadian urban centre prefer a more passive participatory role and that the financial factor remains the principle motivator. The results have implications for urban energy planning including the need for more utility and industry collaboration with urban community members.

The reduction of energy poverty and the expansion of citizen-led community energy projects are two important issues for a just energy transition in the European Union. While some socio-economic aspects of community energy are well researched, there is a dearth of literature on its potential to include vulnerable households and eventually reduce the risk of energy poverty. Through the lens of energy vulnerability thinking, this paper examines current and future drivers of energy poverty in Germany, as well as factors that may limit or facilitate the inclusion of vulnerable consumers in community energy. It draws on previous studies and on 12 semi-structured interviews conducted in the Summer of 2021 with experts in the fields of energy poverty or community energy. Using a three-tenet conceptualization of energy justice, the article argues that community energy projects can mitigate energy poverty in Germany by providing affordable renewable electricity to vulnerable and energy-poor consumers, as well as by establishing fair procedures that consider various vulnerability contexts. Yet, deep-rooted distributional injustices in housing and social transfer schemes that drive energy poverty are likely to remain. In order to advance energy justice, community energy projects hinge on a collaborative multi-level and multi-actor environment.

Connecting research and practice

Community energy projects take a decentralized and participatory approach to low-carbon energy. Here we present a quantitative analysis of business models, financing mechanisms and financial performance of UK community energy projects, based on a new survey. We find that business models depend on technology, project size and the fine-tuning of operations to local contexts. Although larger projects rely more on loans, community shares are the most common and cheapest financial instrument in the sector. Community energy has pioneered low-cost citizen finance for renewables, but its future is threatened by reductions, and instability, in policy support. Over 90% of the projects in our sample make a financial surplus during our single-year snapshot, but this falls to just 20% if we remove income from price guarantee mechanisms, such as the Feed-in Tariff scheme. Renewed support and/or business model innovations are therefore needed for the sector to realize its potential contribution to the low-carbon energy transition. Community energy is a promising alternative to large-scale energy provision that could support decarbonization efforts. This study analyses business models, financing mechanisms and the financial performance of community energy projects in the UK to understand what is needed to better support the sector.

Sustainability and replicability framework: Actor network theory based critical case analysis of renewable community energy projects in India

While there has been much interest in community energy (CE) within policy and academia, political interest and support have fluctuated in most European countries, depending on the political orientation of incumbent governments. To investigate some of the broader social benefits of CE, this paper uses insights from energy justice (EJ) research and empirical data from 12 semi-structured interviews with CE professionals, academics and volunteers in the UK. Three key benefits of CE are identified which have not been fully explored in existing literature, all of which are linked by the overarching concept of trust. Firstly, CE organisations often serve as “trusted intermediaries”, offering trusted advice and support. Secondly, CE organisations were found to be well placed to engage with marginalised communities by building trust and offering energy poverty alleviation support. Thirdly, through trust, CE organisations can enhance linking social capital, providing a connection between local people and those in positions of authority. Overall, this paper advances theoretical understandings of EJ by identifying “informational justice” as a fourth tenet of EJ, distinct from distributional, procedural and recognitional forms of justice. More specifically, it identifies the provision of trusted information as foundational to achieving EJ, which has been underacknowledged in the literature. It concludes with suggestions for how CE initiatives can better engage with marginalised communities to avoid perpetuating socio-economic inequalities and broaden political support. Three key recommendations are identified: implementing a genuinely community-centred approach, embedding inclusive organisational practices, and creating diverse and accessible opportunities for engagement.

Evaluation of barriers and enablers through integrative multicriteria decision mapping: Developing sustainable community energy in Indian context

External shocks, agent interactions, and endogenous feedbacks — Investigating system resilience with a stylized land use model

Reducing vulnerability and improving resilience of the existing built environment to disaster events is a complex multidisciplinary challenge in which facilities managers need to contribute an understanding of the impact that a disaster event could have on both their hard and soft facilities. Facilities managers also need to identify potential operational, physical and corporate adaptations/mitigations that can support continued business function during and after a disaster event. This paper describes work in progress to develop an earthquake forecasting, early warning and rapid response system that business and critical infrastructure organisations can use as part disaster risk reduction and business continuity planning. Focusing on theory and methods, the paper considers the different aspects of resilience from a facilities management perspective and presents findings from a participatory action research programme that developed a series of use-cases to explore the potential impact of earthquake forecasting, early warning and rapid response on an organisation’s vulnerability and resilience to an earthquake; and identifying physical, operational and organisational mitigation interventions that can reduce an organisation’s disaster risk. The paper concludes the need for facilities managers to understand the different aspects of resilience and to apply the most appropriate to their hard and soft facilities management systems.

The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) are two scales widely used to measure resilience. Although both scales seek to assess an individual's ability to recover from and adapt to disruptions or stressful events, they can capture different aspects of resilience. While the CD-RISC focuses on resources that can help individuals to recover from and adapt to disruptions or stressful events, the BRS directly measures one's ability to bounce back or be resilient. The aim of this study is to better understand resilience through empirically examining the differences between the CD-RISC and the BRS. Samples (a pooled sample N = 448 and two subsamples N = 202 and 246) consisting of undergraduate students from Taiwan were used. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to examine the relationship between the CD-RISC and BRS. Regression analysis was conducted to examine predictive effects of the CD-RISC and BRS on depression and life satisfaction. The results of CFA using different samples consistently show that the CD-RISC and the BRS are highly correlated but still distinct. The results of regression analyses using different samples also consistently show that the CD-RISC and the BRS have unique predictive effects regarding depression and life satisfaction. The research findings suggest that the CD-RISC and the BRS capture different aspects of resilience. For future research on resilience, researchers should pay closer attention to the differences between these scales and choose the one that most closely fits their research purpose.