Municipal transitions: The social, energy, and spatial dynamics of sociotechnical change in South Tyrol, Italy

With the aim of proposing recommendations on how to use social and territorial specificities as levers for wider achievement of climate and energy targets at local level, this research analyses territories as sociotechnical systems. Defining the territory as a sociotechnical system allows us to underline the interrelations between space, energy and society. Groups of municipalities in a region can be identified with respect to their potential production of renewable energy by means of well-known data-mining approaches. Similar municipalities linking together can share ideas and promote collaborations, supporting clever social planning in the transition towards a new energy system. The methodology is applied to the South Tyrol case study (Italy). Results show eight different spatially-based sociotechnical systems within the coherent cultural and institutional context of South Tyrol. In particular, this paper observes eight different systems in terms of (1) different renewable energy source preferences in semi-urban and rural contexts; (2) different links with other local planning, management, and policy needs; (3) different socio-demographic specificities of individuals and families; (4) presence of different kinds of stakeholders or of (5) different socio-spatial organizations based on land cover. Each energy system has its own specificities and potentialities, including social and spatial dimensions, that can address a more balanced, inclusive, equal, and accelerated energy transition at the local and translocal scale

Energy Modelling on the Alpine Bow

The Alpine bow has a great potential for renewable energy (RE) development. At the same time, wildlife in Alpine areas is at risk and has to be protected. More of 40% of the Alpine area is covered by protected areas. They vary in definition and level of protection regarding their category, region, and country. Therefore, some of those protected areas may be suited for the development of bioenergy whereas others may be more suited for the development of hydropower. Using a precise classification of those protected areas, and assuming the correct protection level the techno-economic model, spatial explicit, BeWhere, will identify the potential from hydropower, bioenergy, wind and solar power while balancing the ecosystems services in the Alps. The model is based on the minimization of the whole supply chain, starting from the collection of the feedstock to the delivery of the final product to the consumers in the Alps and in the major cities outside the Alps. Access to the site is a determinant issue to build a new power plant in the Alps, therefore the model uses a detailed road network for the transport of the feedstock and accessibility, as well as a map of the high voltage power line. The future RE production plants will be installed if the production cost is competitive enough against fossil fuel based power and heat. The model will then provide the optimal locations, numbers, technologies, and capacities for hydropower stations, bioenergy production plants, solar PV fields and wind parks, together with their corresponding costs and emissions. A series of scenarios will be carried out varying the fossil fuel price, the carbon cost and the level of protection of the environment. For each of the scenarios, the RE potential, production cost, and emission reductions will be assessed. The results will provide key indications to the stakeholders and the policymakers on the consequences of protecting the environment and the development of RE production

Trade-off between photovoltaic systems installation and agricultural practices on arable lands: An environmental and socio-economic impact analysis for Italy

The paper introduces and discusses an open-source spatial-based model (called r.green.solar) able to quantify the energy production from solar photovoltaic (PV) ground-mounted panels. Socio-economic and environmental impacts can be evaluated by the model. The model starts from the theoretical quantity of solar PV potential energy and estimates a reduction of total amount of energy based on legal, technical, recommended and economic constraints. Model outputs were used for a trade-off analysis between energy production and traditional crops for food/feed cultivation on not irrigated arable land. The model was tested at regional level for a Mediterranean context (Italy). The results confirm that the economic profitability of PV systems follows a north-south gradient, but the main impacts are related to local peculiarities – such as the disposal of not irrigated arable land and the presence of constraints, in particular the landscape maintenance, the morphological variables and the specialization index – and crop yields. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rightsreserved

Exploring Residents’ Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energy Supply: Evidences from an Italian Case Study

The present study offers a contingent valuation application to explore residents ́ willingness to pay for renewable energy, in a case study in the Italian Alps. Data originated from onsite personal interviews and were analyzed with a Tobit model. Results show that respondents are willing to pay, on average, 5.1€ per month for a 100% of renewable energy supply, corresponding approximately to a 13% increase in the energy bill. Among the factors positively affecting the answers, the personal knowledge about renewable energy plays a key role in predicting WTP, as well as income and the personal perception of future possible development of hydropower plants. On the other hand, age and number of household components negatively affect WTP

Malinvaud on Wicksell’s legacy to capital theory: some critical remarks

This critique of Malinvaud’s article of 2003 on Wicksell’s legacy to capital theory focuses in particular on three points raised there. The first regards the given amount of existing capital that appears in Wicksell’s theory and its connection with his alleged “missing equation”, the second the particular notion of the marginal product of capital adopted by Malinvaud and the meaning of its equality with the rate of interest, and the third the concept of the average period of production taken by Malinvaud from Hicks and its inverse relation to the rate of interest