11/24: Save the DateTUED Global Forum on “Community Energy”
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We are writing to know that the next TUED Global Forum will take place on Tuesday, November 24, 2020, 14:30 South African time
 The forum will focus on the issue of “community energy,” drawing on TUED’s Working Paper #13: Transition in Trouble? The Rise and Fall of ‘Community Energy’ in Europe.
Published earlier this year — just as Covid-19 was turning much of the world upside down — the paper looks at efforts in Europe to advance local and community ownership of energy, mainly through “Feed-in Tariff” (FiT) policies that offered incentives to homeowners, farmers, and community organizations to install solar panels or wind turbines to generate renewable energy.
The paper shows how the rapid growth in renewable energy “prosumers” and various local and community energy initiatives reinforced the idea that “energy democracy” means “local ownership,” and that this form of “energy citizenship” can and will play a leading role in driving the energy transition. But recent years have seen a marked decline in new community energy initiatives, and many established projects appear to be in economic difficulty. As a result, local and community energy remains on the margins of energy systems in most European countries. The paper argues that the challenges facing local energy generation projects call into question the idea that “energy citizens” can play any significant role in the energy transition given the realities of liberalized energy markets. The paper urges unions and their allies in the environmental community to reflect on what this means for the struggle for energy democracy.
After an opening presentation of the main findings of the paper, we will hear responses from trade unions and environmental organizations.
The paper is available in English here; translations into Spanish and French will be circulated in the coming days. Interpretation for the meeting will be available in English, Spanish and French.
We hope you will plan to join us. Please RSVP here.
The TUED Team
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