Resumen de Local renewable energy projects on remote islands: Impacts, ethics, and transformative potential
In the discussions on climate change, the transition to renewable energy is seen as one of the biggest and most urgent steps the world can take to avoid ecological collapse. At the same time, the decentralized and abundant character of renewable energy is pushing for deeper changes in the energy system mostly around small scale, decentralized, and democratically owned projects. Despite the emergence of various community and local renewable energy projects, there is still limited discussion on the bigger impact these projects can have on the sustainability discourse and on their potential to scale up and push for a more radical change. Even less attention has been paid on the views of the local population. The evaluation of local projects is mostly done by experts and managers and fails to assess the impact of the projects on people’s lives. The present dissertation has identified and aims to tackle this literature gap. The focus is on two islands located in Southern Europe: Tilos in Greece, and El Hierro in Spain. Islands are ideal case studies due to their particularities like high energy cost, energy dependence from the mainland, remoteness and identified boundaries. For these reasons, the past years islands globally have been transformed into technological hubs for renewable energy projects. The two islands studied here have implemented innovative small scale, local renewable energy projects that go beyond mere electricity production and aim to support various sustainability actions. The thesis is divided into three sections that answer different sub-questions all of which together shed light on the impact and potential of local renewable energy projects on islands. In Section A, I use two different approaches, namely the Strategic Niche Management and Degrowth to discuss to what extend these local energy projects can be scaled-up and can push for a more radical transformation like Degrowth. On the one hand, I conclude that the projects are in the inter-local phase and have a potential to influence the regime. Various actors are playing different roles in the scale up of the projects. On the other hand, when I examined a more radical vision, like Degrowth I found that the projects although embrace some of the degrowth ideas, are still operating under capitalistic terms. An important missing element is the strongest participation from the local population and the orientation towards non-profit initiatives. In Section B, I explore to what extend the projects delivered their ‘sustainability promises’. These promises were identified in the discussion with various actors and derived from the relevant documents. Surveys with the local population shed light on the impacts the projects had on people’s lives. Overall, the communities assessed the projects quite high, and it was found that certain aspects like social and environmental parameters influence people’s perceptions on the success of the project higher than others, like economic. Special attention was given on the gender aspects, which are often overlooked in the discussions around energy projects. The results support the initial suspicions that women perceive less benefits and feel less involved with the projects than men. In Section C the concept of Insular Degrowth is being introduced in an effort to conceptualize some of the aforementioned observations around islands, energy and development. Overall, the present dissertation concludes that local renewable energy projects can enhance local sustainability and can be beneficial for the local community. I argue however that one should not romanticize local energy projects as very often the participation of local people is limited and symbolic while certain groups like women feel excluded. Additionally, certain aspects like environmental and social benefits that are overlooked on project evaluations are important factors for the success of the projects in the eyes of the local communities. Finally, the present dissertation challenges the idea of a “successful” project, as different actors have different ideas around what makes a ‘successful project’ based on their values and priorities. Thus, a novel framework that includes various aspects of sustainability and various views from multiple stakeholders is needed.
