Understanding the Antecedents of Entrepreneurship and Renewable Energies to Promote the Development of Community Renewable Energy in Rural Areas

Abstract

Sustainable rural development (SRD) is an essential component of sustainable development on a global scale. Community Renewable Energy (CRE) has been advocated as a step forward in the progress towards SRD. While Northern European countries are experiencing a high development of CRE, Southern European countries lag behind. Considering entrepreneurship and renewable energy technologies (RET) as two fundamental components of CRE, through a systematic literature review this study identifies the antecedents or conditioning factors of entrepreneurship and RET exploitation in rural areas of developed countries, understanding that these same antecedents condition the development of CRE in these countries. The identified factors are organized around five capital spheres: economic, human, social, physical and natural. Given that these five spheres are not watertight compartments, but rather that their limits are diffuse and there are multiple interactions between them, we try to highlight their interrelationships through System Thinking based on the design of causal loop diagrams. The results can help policy makers and CRE projects’ promoters in the design of effective policies and strategies to foster the development of CRE in rural areas of developed countries.