Macroeconomic impacts of energy communities and individual prosumers: an assessment of transformation pathways
Abstract Background Active citizen participation, especially as collective prosumers in energy communities or as individual prosumers, is vital for a sustainable energy transition. As such, it is explicitly supported by European Union policy. It is the aim of policy-makers that a large proportion of...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Energy, Sustainability and Society |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-023-00395-3 |
| _version_ | 1797817852064956416 |
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| author | Stefan Vögele Lisa Hanna Broska Andrew Ross Dirk Rübbelke |
| author_facet | Stefan Vögele Lisa Hanna Broska Andrew Ross Dirk Rübbelke |
| author_sort | Stefan Vögele |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Active citizen participation, especially as collective prosumers in energy communities or as individual prosumers, is vital for a sustainable energy transition. As such, it is explicitly supported by European Union policy. It is the aim of policy-makers that a large proportion of the residential energy demand will be met in this way. At present, there is limited analysis on the macroeconomic impacts of such an increase in prosumers. In this study, we develop and apply an approach for assessing the macroeconomic impacts of transformation pathways, which depict potential developments of individual and collective prosumers. Results The paper methodologically demonstrates how to macroeconomically assess scenarios and transformation pathways originating from cross-impact balance analyses by means of an input–output analysis. In particular, it is shown how qualitative data on future developments can be transformed into financial flows so as to enable an input–output analysis. Based on the assessment of two transformation pathways, our main findings suggest that there might be positive regional and national effects on net value added and employment as well as reductions in CO2 emissions. We find that the scale of the effects strongly depends on the spatial distribution of heterogeneous households and the underlying economic structure. Conclusions Our study represents a methodological advancement by showing how scenarios and transformation pathways can be assessed in terms of their macroeconomic consequences. This study shows that energy communities and individual prosumers might generate positive effects on value added and on employment. Given that households fix their energy supply options for decades, political decisions to support the energy transition in the residential sector should be taken as soon as possible. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:59:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8da0554639364538b2f0e120d7cb00fb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2192-0567 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:59:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energy, Sustainability and Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-8da0554639364538b2f0e120d7cb00fb2023-05-28T11:24:04ZengBMCEnergy, Sustainability and Society2192-05672023-05-0113112510.1186/s13705-023-00395-3Macroeconomic impacts of energy communities and individual prosumers: an assessment of transformation pathwaysStefan Vögele0Lisa Hanna Broska1Andrew Ross2Dirk Rübbelke3Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Energy and Climate Research–Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEK-STE)Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Energy and Climate Research–Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEK-STE)Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Energy and Climate Research–Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEK-STE)Faculty of Business Administration, TU Bergakademie FreibergAbstract Background Active citizen participation, especially as collective prosumers in energy communities or as individual prosumers, is vital for a sustainable energy transition. As such, it is explicitly supported by European Union policy. It is the aim of policy-makers that a large proportion of the residential energy demand will be met in this way. At present, there is limited analysis on the macroeconomic impacts of such an increase in prosumers. In this study, we develop and apply an approach for assessing the macroeconomic impacts of transformation pathways, which depict potential developments of individual and collective prosumers. Results The paper methodologically demonstrates how to macroeconomically assess scenarios and transformation pathways originating from cross-impact balance analyses by means of an input–output analysis. In particular, it is shown how qualitative data on future developments can be transformed into financial flows so as to enable an input–output analysis. Based on the assessment of two transformation pathways, our main findings suggest that there might be positive regional and national effects on net value added and employment as well as reductions in CO2 emissions. We find that the scale of the effects strongly depends on the spatial distribution of heterogeneous households and the underlying economic structure. Conclusions Our study represents a methodological advancement by showing how scenarios and transformation pathways can be assessed in terms of their macroeconomic consequences. This study shows that energy communities and individual prosumers might generate positive effects on value added and on employment. Given that households fix their energy supply options for decades, political decisions to support the energy transition in the residential sector should be taken as soon as possible.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-023-00395-3Energy communitiesInput–output analysisEconomic impactRenewable energyProsumersCitizen participation |
| spellingShingle | Stefan Vögele Lisa Hanna Broska Andrew Ross Dirk Rübbelke Macroeconomic impacts of energy communities and individual prosumers: an assessment of transformation pathways Energy, Sustainability and Society Energy communities Input–output analysis Economic impact Renewable energy Prosumers Citizen participation |
| title | Macroeconomic impacts of energy communities and individual prosumers: an assessment of transformation pathways |
| title_full | Macroeconomic impacts of energy communities and individual prosumers: an assessment of transformation pathways |
| title_fullStr | Macroeconomic impacts of energy communities and individual prosumers: an assessment of transformation pathways |
| title_full_unstemmed | Macroeconomic impacts of energy communities and individual prosumers: an assessment of transformation pathways |
| title_short | Macroeconomic impacts of energy communities and individual prosumers: an assessment of transformation pathways |
| title_sort | macroeconomic impacts of energy communities and individual prosumers an assessment of transformation pathways |
| topic | Energy communities Input–output analysis Economic impact Renewable energy Prosumers Citizen participation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-023-00395-3 |
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