Bioenergy as a socio-technical system: The nexus of rules, social capital and cooperation in the development of bioenergy villages in Germany

Polach, Carlotta von Bock und; Kunze, Conrad; Maaß, Oliver; Grundmann, Philipp

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2015.02.003

Cited by 48 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…On the one hand, scholars point out that the local community influences the shape and mobilization process of LLCEIs (e.g., [26,28,[57][58][59][60]). On the other hand, LLCEIs also actively mobilize the capacities (such as cultural, organizational and personal capacities) to harvest support and acceptance [32,44,58,61,62]. Examples are the involvement of the local village council when initiating an LLCEI, using the village name for branding the LLCEI, or providing opportunities for villagers to become involved in the LLCEI.…”

Section: Capacity Building and Embedding Llceismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Intermediaries in Supporting Local Low-Carbon Energy Initiatives

et al. 2018

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Recent scholarly attention shows that grassroots civil society low-carbon energy initiatives increasingly become part of the subnational climate change governance landscape. Despite their potency in view of consumer-owned distributed generation and enhanced citizen influence in the organization of the energy infrastructure, local low-carbon energy initiatives (LLCEIs) struggle to become viable alternatives to the centralized, private oriented energy system. To further LLCEI development, support needs to build their capacities; alleviate institutional hurdles and barriers stemming from the fossil fuel-based energy regime; and open up the system for the uptake, acceptance or breakthrough of LLCEIs. Evidence suggests that so-called "intermediaries" form a part of the solution in addressing these issues. Despite previous attempts at analyzing intermediary roles and activities vis-à-vis the development of community energy, the reality of the various roles and strategies intermediaries can employ and the support LLCEIs require to further develop have not yet been synthesized in a comprehensive analytical framework. This article aims to fill this gap by developing such a framework. We reflect on the analytical framework by evaluating the intermediary support structure in a specific case: the Province of Fryslân. From the analysis, we conclude that the Frisian case provided modest support to the claim that intermediary support is effective in addressing the needs of LLCEIs as the strategies and roles observed represent a complete and coherent support structure.

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Section: Capacity Building and Embedding Llceismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Intermediaries in Supporting Local Low-Carbon Energy Initiatives

et al. 2018

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“…multiple biomass suppliers or multiple heat users, making both supply and demand more robust [47]. Embedding biogas production in a local situation does, however, rely heavily on social capital [48]. It should be noted that this paper was based on interviews with project leaders of a large European project focused on green gas, which imposes some limitations on our findings but allowed us to receive practical and personal information.…”

Section: Overview Of Results and General Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Biogas between renewable energy and bio-economy policies—opportunities and constraints resulting from a dual role

2017

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Background: Biogas plays a major role in two policy domains: the renewable energy domain and the bio-economy domain. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of current biogas practices with the two policy domains and to identify how biogas can contribute to both. Methods: The paper is based on an analysis of views and ideas gained in a large European project addressing different aspects of biogas production and application, gathered through interviews with a variety of stakeholders involved in the project.

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“…In the past, the development of agricultural biogas production as a socio-technical system has been influenced to a great extent by socioeconomic factors such as public perceptions, acceptance, contributions to rural livelihoods and capacity development [250]. Socioeconomic factors are likely to play a decisive role for the performance of the future agricultural biogas plants, besides techno-economic and biophysical factors.…”

Section: Business Environments and Business Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This requirement may itself require a business environment that is eager to learn and innovate. While these factors are to a great extent out of the influence of the biogas enterprises themselves, empirical evidence shows that biogas projects can contribute to shaping their business environments mainly through participatory processes and higher social embeddedness [250,251]. Increasing the participation of business partners and customers in the business at local levels may contribute to the overall goals of increasing adaptiveness to changing business environments and becoming less dependent on exogenous factors.…”

Section: Business Environments and Business Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Future Agricultural Biogas Plant in Germany: A Vision

et al. 2019

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After nearly two decades of subsidized and energy crop-oriented development, agricultural biogas production in Germany is standing at a crossroads. Fundamental challenges need to be met. In this article we sketch a vision of a future agricultural biogas plant that is an integral part of the circular bioeconomy and works mainly on the base of residues. It is flexible with regard to feedstocks, digester operation, microbial communities and biogas output. It is modular in design and its operation is knowledge-based, information-driven and largely automated. It will be competitive with fossil energies and other renewable energies, profitable for farmers and plant operators and favorable for the national economy. In this paper we discuss the required contribution of research to achieve these aims.

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Bioenergy as a socio-technical system: The nexus of rules, social capital and cooperation in the development of bioenergy villages in Germany

Cited by 48 publications

References 32 publications

The Role of Intermediaries in Supporting Local Low-Carbon Energy Initiatives

The Role of Intermediaries in Supporting Local Low-Carbon Energy Initiatives

Biogas between renewable energy and bio-economy policies—opportunities and constraints resulting from a dual role

The Future Agricultural Biogas Plant in Germany: A Vision

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