Community initiatives on sustainable energy in the UK

Successful in generating enthusiasm, less so in good management

The idea of energy generation on the community level dates back to the alternative energy activists pleading for 'soft energy paths' in the seventies. The idea got new emphasis in the late nineties with the revival of renewable energy as a viable means of climate change mitigation.

The Sustainable Technologies Programme (STP) is a research initiative of the UK Economic and Social Research Council. They recently funded a study investigating the role of community initiatives in the implementation and embedding of Sustainable Energy Technologies in the UK. Six case studies were investigated in depth.

The findings revealed that the local acceptance of such initiatives was high and that there was a positive impact on the public's understanding and support for renewable energy. Where the initiative successfully connected to an existing network of activists, it resulted in lots of enthusiasm and creativity along with the commitment to making innovations work.

The weak point in all of these community-based initiatives was their general lack of appropriate management. It failed to put effective learning mechanisms in place and lacked a long-term goal and guiding vision. The study found that there is a need for such interventions to be more coordinated, stable, and inclusive, and for policy to provide a clearer and more concerted commitment.