IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jresou/v14y2025i5p68-d1639767.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Positive Energy Communities in Accelerating the Adoption of Renewable Energies: Case Study, Tunisia

Author

Listed:
  • Ikram Ben Belgacem

    (Laboratoire de Génie Mécanique, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Monastir, Université de Monastir, Monastir 5000, Tunisia)

  • El Manaa Barhoumi

    (College of Engineering, Dhofar University, Salalah 211, Oman)

  • Issam M. Bahadur

    (College of Engineering, Dhofar University, Salalah 211, Oman)

  • Paul C. Okonkwo

    (College of Engineering, Dhofar University, Salalah 211, Oman)

Abstract

This paper examines the key factors influencing the relationship between domestic energy consumption and renewable energy adoption in Tunisia, based on a survey of 1000 participants from various sectors, including students, teachers, and social media users. The findings reveal that while 65% of households report high energy consumption, mainly due to heating and air conditioning, only 35% have adopted energy-efficient technologies. Although 80% express concern about climate change, only 45% understand the connection between personal energy use and environmental impact. Additionally, 70% of respondents show a positive attitude toward solar energy, but 60% cite installation costs as a significant barrier. The paper focuses on the potential of positive energy communities (PECs), particularly in rural areas, where 75% of respondents showed interest. The study emphasizes the need for a comprehensive strategy combining education, policy frameworks, and community-driven energy solutions to reduce consumption and increase renewable energy use. Concrete recommendations are provided to support a sustainable energy transition in Tunisia, with a focus on enhancing energy autonomy and environmental preservation through PECs.

Suggested Citation

  • Ikram Ben Belgacem & El Manaa Barhoumi & Issam M. Bahadur & Paul C. Okonkwo, 2025. "The Role of Positive Energy Communities in Accelerating the Adoption of Renewable Energies: Case Study, Tunisia," Resources, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-24, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:68-:d:1639767
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/14/5/68/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/14/5/68/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jiang, Jingjing & Ye, Bin & Liu, Junguo, 2019. "Research on the peak of CO2 emissions in the developing world: Current progress and future prospect," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 186-203.
    2. Yehui Peng & Jacopo Gaspari & Lia Marchi, 2024. "Exploring Residential Energy Behaviour of the Younger Generation for Sustainable Living: A Systematic Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Han Vandevyvere & Dirk Ahlers & Annemie Wyckmans, 2022. "The Sense and Non-Sense of PEDs—Feeding Back Practical Experiences of Positive Energy District Demonstrators into the European PED Framework Definition Development Process," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-16, June.
    4. Michael Krug & Maria Rosaria Di Nucci & Matteo Caldera & Elena De Luca, 2022. "Mainstreaming Community Energy: Is the Renewable Energy Directive a Driver for Renewable Energy Communities in Germany and Italy?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-24, June.
    5. Saleem, Shaham & Zhang, Yixiang, 2024. "Impact of knowledge and trust on households' solar energy consumption behavior: Do social influence and gender matter?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    6. Bożena Gajdzik & Magdalena Jaciow & Kinga Hoffmann-Burdzińska & Robert Wolny & Radosław Wolniak & Wiesław Wes Grebski, 2024. "Impact of Economic Awareness on Sustainable Energy Consumption: Results of Research in a Segment of Polish Households," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-31, May.
    7. Mehmood, Usman, 2021. "Contribution of renewable energy towards environmental quality: The role of education to achieve sustainable development goals in G11 countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 600-607.
    8. Al-Orabi, Ahmed M. & Osman, Mohamed G. & Sedhom, Bishoy E., 2023. "Analysis of the economic and technological viability of producing green hydrogen with renewable energy sources in a variety of climates to reduce CO2 emissions: A case study in Egypt," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).
    9. Ajanovic, A. & Glatt, A. & Haas, R., 2021. "Prospects and impediments for hydrogen fuel cell buses," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Li, Yanfei & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2022. "The economic feasibility of green hydrogen and fuel cell electric vehicles for road transport in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    2. Wan, Qilong & Qian, Jine & Baghirli, Araz & Aghayev, Aligul, 2022. "Green finance and carbon reduction: Implications for green recovery," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 901-913.
    3. Donghui Lv & Ruru Wang & Yu Zhang, 2021. "Sustainability Assessment Based on Integrating EKC with Decoupling: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, January.
    4. Zhang, Nan & Lu, Yiji & Kadam, Sambhaji & Yu, Zhibin, 2023. "A fuel cell range extender integrating with heat pump for cabin heat and power generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    5. Nithin Isaac & Akshay Kumar Saha, 2023. "Analysis of Refueling Behavior Models for Hydrogen-Fuel Vehicles: Markov versus Generalized Poisson Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Wahhaj Ahmed & Ayman Alazazmeh & Muhammad Asif, 2022. "Energy and Water Saving Potential in Commercial Buildings: A Retrofit Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Jiyoung Park & Chansung Kim, 2025. "Current Challenges to Achieving Mass-Market Hydrogen Mobility from the Perspective of Early Adopters in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-21, March.
    8. Mehmet Ali Cakir & Ramazan Unlu & Sümeyra Cay Cakir & Petros Xanthopoulos, 2025. "Future of Clean Cooking Energy Access in Emerging Economies by 2030," SN Operations Research Forum, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-30, March.
    9. Jiang, Jingjing & Ye, Bin & Liu, Junguo, 2019. "Peak of CO2 emissions in various sectors and provinces of China: Recent progress and avenues for further research," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 813-833.
    10. Huang, Ying & Liao, Cuiping & Zhang, Jingjing & Guo, Hongxu & Zhou, Nan & Zhao, Daiqing, 2019. "Exploring potential pathways towards urban greenhouse gas peaks: A case study of Guangzhou, China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Zhang, Boling & Wang, Qian & Wang, Sixia & Tong, Ruipeng, 2023. "Coal power demand and paths to peak carbon emissions in China: A provincial scenario analysis oriented by CO2-related health co-benefits," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    12. Stefania Lucantonio & Andrea Di Giuliano & Leucio Rossi & Katia Gallucci, 2023. "Green Diesel Production via Deoxygenation Process: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-44, January.
    13. Lopez-Ruiz, G. & Alava, I. & Blanco, J.M., 2023. "Impact of H2/CH4 blends on the flexibility of micromix burners applied to industrial combustion systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    14. Lucian-Ioan Dulău, 2023. "CO 2 Emissions of Battery Electric Vehicles and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-17, June.
    15. Shi, Jihao & Li, Junjie & Zhang, Haoran & Xie, Bin & Xie, Zonghao & Yu, Qing & Yan, Jinyue, 2025. "Real-time gas explosion prediction at urban scale by GIS and graph neural network," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PC).
    16. Dervis Kirikkaleli & Samar Aad & Nurdan Ozrecberoglu Kirikkaleli, 2025. "Sustainable development and investment in artificial intelligence in the USA," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.
    17. Fotio, Herve Kaffo & Nchofoung, Tii N. & Asongu, Simplice A., 2022. "Financing renewable energy generation in SSA: Does financial integration matter?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P2), pages 47-59.
    18. Magaji Yakubu & Samson Aladejare, 2025. "Renewable Energy and Ecological Sustainability in Africa: Does Foreign Debt and Financial Globalisation Matter?," Energy Technologies and Environment, Anser Press, vol. 3(1), pages 1-22, March.
    19. Radpour, Saeidreza & Gemechu, Eskinder & Ahiduzzaman, Md & Kumar, Amit, 2021. "Development of a framework for the assessment of the market penetration of novel in situ bitumen extraction technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    20. Artur Warchoł & Karolina Pęzioł & Marek Baścik, 2024. "Energy-Saving Geospatial Data Storage—LiDAR Point Cloud Compression," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-28, December.

    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:jresou:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:68-:d:1639767. 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.