The Social Perspective on the Renewable Energy Autonomy of Geographically Isolated Communities: Evidence from a Mediterranean Island

Fontina Petrakopoulou

doi:10.3390/su9030327

Abstract

The use of renewable energy sources can provide a path toward sustainable development and regional energy independence. In particular, renewable-based energy autonomy constitutes a viable option in remote areas. This work presents a survey on the use of renewable energy as part of an energy autonomy plan on a Mediterranean island. The study also included personal communications with residents and local community leaders. The results show an overall positive attitude toward renewable energy applications. The majority of the respondents support the implementation of renewable-based, small-scale projects corresponding to local energy autonomy scenarios. They are, furthermore, convinced that a wider use of renewable technologies can reduce the environmental impact of conventional fuels. However, although people are aware of technologies widely used on the island, they are much less so when it comes to less prominent technologies (wave energy, fuel cells, etc.). People tend to be more open to installations of solar, wind and geothermal energy, while generally they dislike nuclear and coal power plants. Lastly, the majority of the respondents believe that local policies on energy issues should change, while they also perceive the lack of political will as one of the most important obstacles to the implementation of renewable technologies.

Highlights

Energy self-reliant communities not connected to central electrical grids, such as remote islands, rely on autonomous local grids, commonly based on fossil fuel combustion
Seventy-seven of the people lived on the island permanently, 11% resided on the island from a few weeks to several months every year and 7.7% resided on the island for approximately six months per year
From the results of this work, it became apparent that the people of the island expect more transparency when it comes to actions that affect their way of living

Summary

Introduction

Energy self-reliant communities not connected to central electrical grids, such as remote islands, rely on autonomous local grids, commonly based on fossil fuel combustion. Apart from boosting the local, and as a consequence the national, economy by creating jobs and increasing the penetration of RES in the national portfolio, renewable-based energy autonomy can decrease the environmental impact and economic expenditure of energy generation in remote regions [2,3]. Non-interconnected islands constitute a good example of off-grid energy generation systems with relatively isolated communities. Greece has several hundreds of inhabited islands located in the Aegean and Ionian Seas, 58 of which are yet to be connected to the central electrical grid of the mainland. The majority of these islands generate the required electricity and thermal energy using heavy oils transported to the islands from central stations of the mainland [7]

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