What Drives the Participation of Renewable Energy Cooperatives in European Energy Governance?

What determines the willingness of renewable energy cooperatives (RECs) to strengthen their involvement in politics at the different levels of governments (local/regional, national, transnational)? We address this research question by using data from an original survey distributed to RECs in Germany. The descriptive analysis shows that the RECs are less willing to participate in energy governance at the EU/transnational level than at the national and especially the subnational level. Our analytical findings, first, show that the odds of RECs to participate in governance processes in the future are greater for those RECs that are already involved in such processes. Put differently, we find that engagement in energy governance is affected by path-dependence. Second, participation in subnational governance processes is determined by dissatisfaction with policy decisions taken at that level: the more dissatisfied the respondents, the more likely they are to exert influence in the future. For the Energy Union to realise its aim of incorporating a broader range of stakeholders, the European Commission must highlight the opportunity structure it provides for participating in governance processes

Consumer preferences for renewable gas options: Qualitative insights into the German heating market

One of the key social aspects of renewable energy use is consumer demand. In the residential heating sector, where long-lived fossil-fuel systems are slow to be replaced, consumer demand for drop-in renewable gases like biomethane or Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) could play an important role in short-term decarbonization. As this sector is a major emitter of CO2 in Europe, robust green demand could be key to fulfilling the targets set in the Paris Agreement. Yet existing research focuses on the supply side and technical aspects of renewable gases, leaving the demand side and consumer preferences for these gases largely neglected. To close this gap, we conducted a qualitative study based on two empirical strands: 22 interviews with heating consumers, and a set of interviews and focus groups with 27 industry experts. The study was situated in Germany, which as one of the world’s largest biogas producers is a society with a history of relations with renewable gas technologies. Our results show that choosing a heating option is a low-involvement decision, but one made by a complex calculus where the environmental benefits of renewable gases count positively, but large-scale biogas production and perceived energy crop monocultures count negatively. SNG is still largely unknown and regarded neutrally. Industry experts evaluate voluntary markets for renewable gases as small, cost-driven and made up of consumers weaned on low-cost products. Our results can help policy makers worldwide support voluntary renewable energy markets and provide energy practitioners with approaches to increasing consumer engagement with their product

Policy and political consequences of mandatory climate impact assessments: an explorative study of German cities and municipalities

Since May 2019, several German cities and municipalities have declared a ‘climate emergency’, an action which makes climate impact assessments mandatory for all projects or policy proposals. How have the processes in the local governments changed in response to the emergency status? How have the processes in the city and municipal councils changed? And how, if at all, has the relationship between elected politicians (who make up the city and municipal councils) and bureaucrats (who make up the local government) changed? Based on 13 interviews carried out with representatives of city and municipal councils and local governments, we show, first, that local governments expect a higher workload and to spend more time on cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation. Second, the issue of climate change is now part of the political agenda in the local councils. Third, the administrative actors are now in a stronger position vis-à-vis the political ones as they can de facto veto projects or policies. Overall, we conclude that local-level climate politics has changed following the declaration of the emergency status; however, the design of the corresponding policies has not changed to reflect the cross-sectoral character of responses to climate change

Are voluntary markets effective in replacing state-led support for the expansion of renewables? – A comparative analysis of voluntary green electricity markets in the UK, Germany, France and Italy

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