citizen participation | ENERGY DEMOCRACY

EnergÉtica Cooperative challenges energy poverty by supplying clean energy

energydemocracy — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 11:43:13 +0000

Transforming energy systems from the bottom up EnergÉtica was born in the decade of the 2010s in Valladolid, despite significant barriers such as the absence of a relevant cooperative movement, a scarce associative tradition and the perception that energy issues were far from social priorities. The energy issue was finally put on the social agenda…

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PENGON empowers Palestinian women as sustainable energy leaders

energydemocracy — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 11:36:58 +0000

Focusing on women’s needs and skills There are differentiated impacts of energy scarcity on women, and women’s participation in the renewable energy sector as a whole – in Palestine and elsewhere – is neither visible nor supported, with women remaining underrepresented in decision-making bodies and processes. PENGON’s ‘Empowering Women as Sustainable Energy Leaders’ initiative was…

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Earthworker Cooperative

energydemocracy — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 10:30:47 +0000

Fighting for climate and social justice The Earthworker project was set up by trade unionists who were also environmentalists, and who realised they could use their social weight to help the state of Victoria undertake a ‘just transition’ to a low-carbon economy, as well as empower fossil-fuel dependent regions like the Latrobe Valley community through…

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The municipality of Burgas pioneers energy efficient housing in Bulgaria

energydemocracy — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 09:03:06 +0000

Burgas: industrial hub at the seaside With more than 200,000 residents, Burgas is Bulgaria’s fourth largest city. Despite its growing popularity as a tourist destination, Burgas is essentially an industrial city. It hosts a large oil-refining company and is the centre of Bulgaria’s fish-processing industry. Its strategic location on the scenic coast of the Black…

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Komotini’s plans for a climate-friendly future

energydemocracy — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 08:55:27 +0000

Getting ready for renewable energy production Until 2017, municipalities in Greece were not able to participate directly in large-scale energy production and distribution, but were limited to small-scale infrastructure like PV panels on rooftops. They were dependent on the centralised national system, which runs mostly on fossil fuels and is comparatively expensive. Komotini had therefore…

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Rijeka: The energy transition of Croatia’s seaport

energydemocracy — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 08:26:30 +0000

Municipal planning and clever funding strategies In 2016, Rijeka adopted an Energy Efficiency Action Plan for the period 2017-2019. In February 2020, it moved to an Efficiency Action Plan for 2020-2022, which commits to investing 171.6 million kuna (€22.9 million) into climate protection measures over the plan period. The funding is a combination of…

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Nottingham’s plan to win the race to carbon-neutrality

energydemocracy — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 08:09:38 +0000

Putting solar panels on “everything that doesn’t move” The city itself is also producing local low-carbon energy. 5,000 homes and more than 100 businesses are being powered by energy created from the city’s waste via one of the country’s largest district heating networks. Additionally, the municipality is becoming a role model by equipping publicly owned…

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How Križevci’s residents created Croatia’s first crowdfunded solar power plant

energydemocracy — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 07:58:55 +0000

The solar power plant In 2018, Križevci inaugurated a fully crowdfunded solar power plant. Located on the roof of the city’s business centre, it has a capacity of 50 kilowatts and is expected to save around 55 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. The solar energy it produces will mostly be used to power the…

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Barcelona Energía: public power to tackle energy poverty and achieve energy sovereignty

energydemocracy — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 09:02:12 +0000

As part of this, Barcelona City Council created a new municipal retailer in 2018, Barcelona Energía (BE),[2] to serve as a key municipal tool contributing to the city’s energy transition. BE involves citizens in decision-making, and aims to increase energy efficiency, deliver renewable energy at affordable prices and address energy poverty. The ultimate goal is…

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Niš embarks on a democratic energy transition journey

energydemocracy — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 12:06:34 +0000

A long-term vision for energy transition Situated in the Nišava valley in the South of the country, Niš is the third largest city in Serbia, a country with an energy sector deeply affected by its dependency on fossil fuel imports, especially concerning natural gas and petroleum brought in to complement Serbia’s own production from coal…

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