IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i23p10096-d455582.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Citizen Science and Citizen Energy Communities: A Systematic Review and Potential Alliances for SDGs

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Wuebben

    (Faculty of Communication Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Camino del Molino 5, 28942 Madrid, Spain)

  • Juan Romero-Luis

    (Faculty of Communication Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Camino del Molino 5, 28942 Madrid, Spain)

  • Manuel Gertrudix

    (Faculty of Communication Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Camino del Molino 5, 28942 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

Citizen science and citizen energy communities are pluralistic terms that refer to a constellation of methods, projects, and outreach activities; however, citizen science and citizen energy communities are rarely, if ever, explicitly aligned. Our searches for “citizen science” and “energy” produced limited results and “citizen science” and “energy communities” produced zero. Therefore, to outline a future direction of citizen science, its potential alliances with energy communities, and their collaborative contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals, we performed a systematic literature review and analysis of “public participation” and “energy communities” using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRIMSA) guidelines. The results show four pathways through which current public participation in energy communities might be more explicitly aligned with citizen science projects: benefits and values, energy practices, intermediaries, and energy citizenship. Each of these pathways could engage citizen scientists in qualitative and quantitative research and increase scientific literacy about energy systems. Our call for citizen science to supplement current forms of participation builds from the “ecologies of participation” framework, itself an extension of co-productionist theories of science and technology studies. We conclude with a discussion of affordances and barriers to the alliances between citizen science and energy communities and their potential contributions to SDGs 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, 13: Climate Action, and 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Wuebben & Juan Romero-Luis & Manuel Gertrudix, 2020. "Citizen Science and Citizen Energy Communities: A Systematic Review and Potential Alliances for SDGs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-24, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:23:p:10096-:d:455582
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/10096/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/10096/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Katharina Schleicher & Constanze Schmidt, 2020. "Citizen Science in Germany as Research and Sustainability Education: Analysis of the Main Forms and Foci and Its Relation to the Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-12, July.
    2. Daniela De Filippo & María Luisa Lascurain & Andres Pandiella-Dominique & Elias Sanz-Casado, 2020. "Scientometric Analysis of Research in Energy Efficiency and Citizen Science through Projects and Publications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-25, June.
    3. Dora L. Costa & Matthew E. Kahn, 2013. "Energy Conservation “Nudges” And Environmentalist Ideology: Evidence From A Randomized Residential Electricity Field Experiment," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 680-702, June.
    4. Sauermann, Henry & Vohland, Katrin & Antoniou, Vyron & Balázs, Bálint & Göbel, Claudia & Karatzas, Kostas & Mooney, Peter & Perelló, Josep & Ponti, Marisa & Samson, Roeland & Winter, Silvia, 2020. "Citizen science and sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(5).
    5. Walker, Gordon & Devine-Wright, Patrick, 2008. "Community renewable energy: What should it mean," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 497-500, February.
    6. van der Schoor, Tineke & Scholtens, Bert, 2015. "Power to the people: Local community initiatives and the transition to sustainable energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 666-675.
    7. Bauwens, Thomas, 2016. "Explaining the diversity of motivations behind community renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 278-290.
    8. Seyfang, Gill & Park, Jung Jin & Smith, Adrian, 2013. "A thousand flowers blooming? An examination of community energy in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 977-989.
    9. Wiese, Frauke & Schlecht, Ingmar & Bunke, Wolf-Dieter & Gerbaulet, Clemens & Hirth, Lion & Jahn, Martin & Kunz, Friedrich & Lorenz, Casimir & Mühlenpfordt, Jonathan & Reimann, Juliane & Schill, Wolf-P, 2019. "Open Power System Data – Frictionless data for electricity system modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 401-409.
    10. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Brown, Marilyn A., 2015. "Deconstructing facts and frames in energy research: Maxims for evaluating contentious problems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 36-42.
    11. Francesco Cappa & Federica Rosso & Antonio Capaldo, 2020. "Visitor-Sensing: Involving the Crowd in Cultural Heritage Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, February.
    12. Sudarshan, Anant, 2017. "Nudges in the marketplace: The response of household electricity consumption to information and monetary incentives," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 320-335.
    13. Green, Jemma & Newman, Peter, 2017. "Citizen utilities: The emerging power paradigm," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 283-293.
    14. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    15. Franzoni, Chiara & Sauermann, Henry, 2014. "Crowd science: The organization of scientific research in open collaborative projects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 1-20.
    16. Nick Verkade & Johanna Höffken, 2019. "Collective Energy Practices: A Practice-Based Approach to Civic Energy Communities and the Energy System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-15, June.
    17. Paula Benevene & Ilaria Buonomo, 2020. "Green Human Resource Management: An Evidence-Based Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-25, July.
    18. Koirala, Binod Prasad & Koliou, Elta & Friege, Jonas & Hakvoort, Rudi A. & Herder, Paulien M., 2016. "Energetic communities for community energy: A review of key issues and trends shaping integrated community energy systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 722-744.
    19. Capellán-Pérez, Iñigo & Campos-Celador, Álvaro & Terés-Zubiaga, Jon, 2018. "Renewable Energy Cooperatives as an instrument towards the energy transition in Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 215-229.
    20. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    21. Beau Warbroek & Thomas Hoppe & Frans Coenen & Hans Bressers, 2018. "The Role of Intermediaries in Supporting Local Low-Carbon Energy Initiatives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-28, July.
    22. Laurence L. Delina, 2020. "A rural energy collaboratory: co-production in Thailand’s community energy experiments," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 10(1), pages 83-90, March.
    23. Christine Milchram & Geerten Van de Kaa & Neelke Doorn & Rolf Künneke, 2018. "Moral Values as Factors for Social Acceptance of Smart Grid Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-23, August.
    24. Tom Hargreaves & Lucie Middlemiss, 2020. "The importance of social relations in shaping energy demand," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 5(3), pages 195-201, March.
    25. Genus, A. & Iskandarova, M., 2020. "Transforming the energy system? Technology and organisational legitimacy and the institutionalisation of community renewable energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    26. Momsen, Katharina & Stoerk, Thomas, 2014. "From intention to action: Can nudges help consumers to choose renewable energy?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 376-382.
    27. Anabel Orellano & Carmen Valor & Emilio Chuvieco, 2020. "The Influence of Religion on Sustainable Consumption: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-21, September.
    28. Nadejda Komendantova & Sonata Neumueller, 2020. "Discourses about energy transition in Austrian climate and energy model regions: Turning awareness into action," Energy & Environment, , vol. 31(8), pages 1473-1497, December.
    29. Esther C. Van der Waal & Henny J. Van der Windt & Ellen C. J. Van Oost, 2018. "How Local Energy Initiatives Develop Technological Innovations: Growing an Actor Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, December.
    30. Brummer, Vasco, 2018. "Community energy – benefits and barriers: A comparative literature review of Community Energy in the UK, Germany and the USA, the benefits it provides for society and the barriers it faces," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 187-196.
    31. Hicks, Jarra & Ison, Nicola, 2018. "An exploration of the boundaries of ‘community’ in community renewable energy projects: Navigating between motivations and context," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 523-534.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Francesca Ceglia & Elisa Marrasso & Carlo Roselli & Maurizio Sasso, 2021. "Small Renewable Energy Community: The Role of Energy and Environmental Indicators for Power Grid," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
    2. Sabrina Bresciani & Francesca Rizzo & Alessandro Deserti, 2022. "Toward a Comprehensive Framework of Social Innovation for Climate Neutrality: A Systematic Literature Review from Business/Production, Public Policy, Environmental Sciences, Energy, Sustainability and," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-21, October.
    3. Jin-Li Hu & Min-Yueh Chuang, 2023. "The Importance of Energy Prosumers for Affordable and Clean Energy Development: A Review of the Literature from the Viewpoints of Management and Policy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-16, August.
    4. Anita De Franco & Elisabetta Venco & Roberto De Lotto & Caterina Pietra & Florian Kutzner & Mona Bielig & Melanie Vogel, 2023. "Drivers, Motivations, and Barriers in the Creation of Energy Communities: Insights from the City of Segrate, Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1, August.
    5. Cristina Moliner & Elisabetta Arato & Filippo Marchelli, 2021. "Current Status of Energy Production from Solid Biomass in Southern Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-21, April.
    6. Raimondi, Giulio & Spazzafumo, Giuseppe, 2023. "Exploring Renewable Energy Communities integration through a hydrogen Power-to-Power system in Italy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 710-721.
    7. Terence Fell & Tove Rydenstam & Benti Geleta Buli & Abby C. King & Katarina Bälter, 2021. "Citizen Science in Sweden’s Stigmatized Neighborhoods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-22, September.
    8. Roberta Roberto & Gabriella Ferruzzi & Viviana Negro & Michel Noussan, 2023. "Mapping of Energy Community Development in Europe: State of the Art and Research Directions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-29, September.
    9. Gibellato, Simone & Ballestra, Luca Vincenzo & Fiano, Fabio & Graziano, Domenico & Luca Gregori, Gian, 2023. "The impact of education on the Energy Trilemma Index: A sustainable innovativeness perspective for resilient energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 330(PB).
    10. Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu & Siyami Alp Limoncuoglu & Muhittin Hakan Demir & Johannes Reichl & Katrin Burgstaller & Alessandro Sciullo & Edoardo Ferrero, 2021. "Legal Provisions and Market Conditions for Energy Communities in Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey: A Comparative Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-25, October.
    11. Jenny Palm, 2021. "The Transposition of Energy Communities into Swedish Regulations: Overview and Critique of Emerging Regulations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-15, August.
    12. Yasutaka Ozaki & Rajib Shaw, 2022. "Citizens’ Social Participation to Implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-18, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Busch, Henner & Ruggiero, Salvatore & Isakovic, Aljosa & Hansen, Teis, 2021. "Policy challenges to community energy in the EU: A systematic review of the scientific literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    2. Dalia Streimikiene & Tomas Baležentis & Artiom Volkov & Mangirdas Morkūnas & Agnė Žičkienė & Justas Streimikis, 2021. "Barriers and Drivers of Renewable Energy Penetration in Rural Areas," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-28, October.
    3. Lode, M.L. & te Boveldt, G. & Coosemans, T. & Ramirez Camargo, L., 2022. "A transition perspective on Energy Communities: A systematic literature review and research agenda," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Moritz Ehrtmann & Lars Holstenkamp & Timon Becker, 2021. "Regional Electricity Models for Community Energy in Germany: The Role of Governance Structures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, February.
    5. Bauwens, Thomas & Schraven, Daan & Drewing, Emily & Radtke, Jörg & Holstenkamp, Lars & Gotchev, Boris & Yildiz, Özgür, 2022. "Conceptualizing community in energy systems: A systematic review of 183 definitions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    6. Haji Bashi, Mazaher & De Tommasi, Luciano & Le Cam, Andreea & Relaño, Lorena Sánchez & Lyons, Padraig & Mundó, Joana & Pandelieva-Dimova, Ivanka & Schapp, Henrik & Loth-Babut, Karolina & Egger, Christ, 2023. "A review and mapping exercise of energy community regulatory challenges in European member states based on a survey of collective energy actors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    7. Warneryd, Martin & Håkansson, Maria & Karltorp, Kersti, 2020. "Unpacking the complexity of community microgrids: A review of institutions’ roles for development of microgrids," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    8. Fouladvand, Javanshir & Aranguren Rojas, Maria & Hoppe, Thomas & Ghorbani, Amineh, 2022. "Simulating thermal energy community formation: Institutional enablers outplaying technological choice," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PA).
    9. Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu & Siyami Alp Limoncuoglu & Muhittin Hakan Demir & Johannes Reichl & Katrin Burgstaller & Alessandro Sciullo & Edoardo Ferrero, 2021. "Legal Provisions and Market Conditions for Energy Communities in Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey: A Comparative Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-25, October.
    10. Jay Sterling Gregg & Sophie Nyborg & Meiken Hansen & Valeria Jana Schwanitz & August Wierling & Jan Pedro Zeiss & Sarah Delvaux & Victor Saenz & Lucia Polo-Alvarez & Chiara Candelise & Winston Gilcrea, 2020. "Collective Action and Social Innovation in the Energy Sector: A Mobilization Model Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-24, February.
    11. Vernay, Anne-Lorène & Olsthoorn, Mark & Sebi, Carine & Gauthier, Caroline, 2023. "The identity trap of community renewable energy in France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    12. Hoicka, Christina E. & MacArthur, Julie L., 2018. "From tip to toes: Mapping community energy models in Canada and New Zealand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 162-174.
    13. Gjorgievski, Vladimir Z. & Cundeva, Snezana & Georghiou, George E., 2021. "Social arrangements, technical designs and impacts of energy communities: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1138-1156.
    14. F.G. Reis, Inês & Gonçalves, Ivo & A.R. Lopes, Marta & Henggeler Antunes, Carlos, 2021. "Business models for energy communities: A review of key issues and trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    15. Conradie, Peter D. & De Ruyck, Olivia & Saldien, Jelle & Ponnet, Koen, 2021. "Who wants to join a renewable energy community in Flanders? Applying an extended model of Theory of Planned Behaviour to understand intent to participate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    16. Binod Prasad Koirala & Ellen van Oost & Henny van der Windt, 2020. "Innovation Dynamics of Socio-Technical Alignment in Community Energy Storage: The Cases of DrTen and Ecovat," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-22, June.
    17. Julia Maria Wittmayer & Tessa de Geus & Bonno Pel & F. Avelino & Sabine Hielscher & Thomas Hoppe & Marie Susan Mühlemeier & Agata Stasik & Sem Oxenaar & Karoline K.S. Rogge & Vivian Visser & Esther Ma, 2020. "Beyond instrumentalism: Broadening the understanding of social innovation in socio-technical energy systems," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/312323, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    18. Maarten Wolsink, 2020. "Framing in Renewable Energy Policies: A Glossary," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-31, June.
    19. Chiara Candelise & Gianluca Ruggieri, 2017. "Community Energy in Italy: Heterogeneous institutional characteristics and citizens engagement," IEFE Working Papers 93, IEFE, Center for Research on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    20. Inês, Campos & Guilherme, Pontes Luz & Esther, Marín-González & Swantje, Gährs & Stephen, Hall & Lars, Holstenkamp, 2020. "Regulatory challenges and opportunities for collective renewable energy prosumers in the EU," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:23:p:10096-:d:455582. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.