Creamer, E, Eadson, W, van Veelen, B, Pinker, A, Tingey, M, Braunholtz-Speight, T, Markantoni, M, Foden, M and Lacey-Barnacle, M (2018) Community energy: entanglements of community, state, and private sector. Geography Compass. ISSN 1749-8198

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Abstract

The decarbonisation of energy systems is leading to a reconfiguration of the geographies of energy. One example is the emergence of community energy, which has become a popular object of study for geographers. Although widely acknowledged to be a contested, capacious and flexible term, ‘community energy’ is commonly presented as singular, bounded and localised. In this paper, we challenge this conception of community energy by considering evidence about the role and influence of three categories of actors: community; state; and private sector. We demonstrate how community energy projects are unavoidably entangled with a diversity of actors and institutions operating at and across multiple scales. We therefore argue that community energy is enabled and constituted by trans-scalar assemblages of overlapping actors, which demands multi-sectoral participation and coordination. We point to the need for further academic attention on the boundaries between these actors to better understand the role of different intermediary practices and relationships in facilitating the development of decentralised energy systems with just outcomes.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This is the final published version of the article (version of record). It first appeared online via Wiley at https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12378 - please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.
Uncontrolled Keywords: community energy, decentralised energy, energy transition, energy geographies, energy governance
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Divisions: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Science and Public Policy
Depositing User: Symplectic
Date Deposited: 13 Jun 2018 08:19
Last Modified: 29 Aug 2018 09:53
URI: https://eprints.keele.ac.uk/id/eprint/5013

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