November 2013 - Doctoral Network meeting
The next Doctoral Network meeting will be held on 1 November 2013 at the Informatics Forum.
The upcoming Doctoral Network meeting will be chaired by Alice Hague, with Bregje Van Veelen as speaker, on 1 November 2013 at the Informatics Forum.
The topic for discussion will be Community Energy Initiatives.
Doctoral Network meeting
The main doors of the building close at 6pm so please try to arrive 10 minutes earlier.
Friday 1 November 2013, 7.00pm - 9.00pm
G.03, ground floor, Informatics Forum, 10 Crichton Street, EH8 9AB
Abstract
Both The Netherlands and Scotland are aiming to increase their use of renewable technologies to meet their energy needs and reduce carbon emissions. However, the two governments have taken very different approaches to achieve this. Whereas the Dutch Government has focused on technological innovation and large-scale development, the Scottish Government is also attempting to encourage small projects through its support for Community Renewable Energy (CRE) initiatives.
These initiatives are not only seen as a policies instrumental to generating energy and reducing carbon, but also as a means to achieve a broader sustainability agenda that links economic regeneration, improved community cohesion and empowerment, and reduced environmental impacts.
The discourse of 'community' and doing things locally has been adopted in both Scotland and the UK by politicians across the political spectrum and is also slowly starting to gain importance in The Netherlands. However, there are different ways in which localism can be imagined and put into practice.
To date, policy makers, academics and practitioners have often approached the topic of community energy uncritically, often assuming that initiatives are socially just, simply because they are local. As a result, I intend to look at the extent to which CRE either redresses or reinforces socio-economic inequalities and the role government policy plays in this.
Suggested reading
A general introduction about the topic of community renewable energy by the Co-operative Group, with pages 6-11 being the most relevant.
The following academic papers may also be of interest: