People power : the role of civil society in renewable energy production
Published in
Jyväskylä studies in business and economicsAuthors
Date
2018Discipline
YmpäristöjohtaminenThe engagement of civil society actors in energy generation can be defined by
the term community energy. Community energy initiatives have increased in
several countries.
This thesis aims at better understanding how this phenomenon emerges
and how it can contribute to the decarbonization of our economy. For this
purpose, a multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions and strategic
niche management theory were employed as theoretical lenses. The research
material consisted of 75 qualitative interviews, a survey of 26 distributed energy
experts, and a panel data study of 66 large electric utilities from various
countries. Thematic, narrative, regression and descriptive statistical analysis
were utilized to analyse the data collected.
The main findings showed that four main development patterns are
triggering the rise of community energy projects. They are: (a) the
characteristics of individuals, (b) social needs, (c) economic factors and (d)
policy factors. The type of drivers behind community energy development is
linked to the possibilities for scaling up the sector. Along with the drivers, some
barriers were also identified. These included the resistance of incumbent regime
actors to renewable energy diffusion, regulation and, in a few cases, technology
performance. Regression analysis and the Granger test for causality showed
that this resistance of incumbent energy firms was due to the negative
correlation between an increase in renewable energy production and firms’
long-term financial performance.
The thesis concluded that community energy could have an important role
to play in the ongoing energy transition. Its impact, however, is contingent on
the degree of internal niche development and on the ways the community
energy niche will engage with important regime actors such as energy
companies, governments, and network operators.
This work contributed to better understanding the factors influencing the
development of socio-technical niches in the case of non-market driven
innovation and the reasons that lead to the locking-up of energy regimes. In the
future, researchers should make further attempts to uncover the ways in which
regimes can be unlocked and social innovation for sustainability diffused.
...
Alternative title
Role of civil society in renewable energy productionPublisher
University of JyväskyläISBN
978-951-39-7305-6ISSN Search the Publication Forum
1457-1986Contains publications
- Artikkeli I: Ruggiero, S. & Lehkonen, H. 2017. Renewable energy growth and the financial performance of electric utilities: A panel data study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142, 3676–3688. DOI: 110.1016/j.jclepro.2016.10.100.
- Artikkeli II: Ruggiero, S., Varho, V. & Rikkonen, P. 2015. Transition to distributed energy generation in Finland: Prospects and barriers. Energy Policy, 86, 433–443. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2015.07.024.
- Artikkeli III: Ruggiero, S., Onkila, T. & Kuittinen, V. 2014. Realizing the social acceptance of community renewable energy: A process-outcome analysis of stakeholder influence. Energy Research & Social Science, 4, 53–63. DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2014.09.001.
- Artikkeli IV: Ruggiero, S., Martiskainen, M. & Onkila, T. 2018. Understanding the Scaling-Up of Community Energy Niches through Strategic Niche Management Theory: Insights from Finland. Journal of Cleaner Production, 170, 581–590. DOI: 0.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.144.
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