How can financial incentives promote local ownership of onshore wind and solar projects? Case study evidence from Germany, Denmark, the UK and Ontario

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Curtin ◽  
Celine McInerney ◽  
Lara Johannsdottir
Keyword(s):  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Onshore Wind ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
The Uk

Mobilising citizens as investors in local solar photovoltaic and onshore wind energy projects can help meet climate objectives, generate local development opportunities, and build social support for low carbon transition. This can be achieved through the introduction of financial incentives attractive to local actors. To investigate what types of financial incentives are effective at the feasibility, development, construction, and operation stages of project development, we undertake a comparative case study of their use in Denmark; Germany; the UK; and Ontario, Canada. We find that a requirement for incentives such as grants and soft loans at the feasibility and development stages is a distinguishing feature of projects with citizen involvement, reflecting their greater risk aversion, lack of technical experience and financial capacity, and their inability to balance risk across a portfolio of projects. At later project stages, market-independent supports (feed in tariffs, grants, and tax incentives) have been effective in mobilising investment, but market-based supports (feed in premiums and quota schemes) can also be tailored to the specific needs of local community actors. These findings add a new dimension to the growing academic and policy debate about how Governments can effectively mobilise investment from local communities and citizens in distributed renewable technologies.

scholarly journals Do entrepreneurial knowledge and innovative attitude overcome “imperfections” in the innovation process? Insights from SMEs in the UK and Italy

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1637-1654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Usai ◽  
Veronica Scuotto ◽  
Alan Murray ◽  
Fabio Fiano ◽  
Luca Dezi
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Asymmetric Information ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Management Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurial Knowledge ◽  
The Uk

PurposeEntrepreneurial knowledge spurs innovation and, in turn, generates a competitive advantage. This paper aims to explore if entrepreneurial knowledge combined with the attitude to innovate can overcome the key “imperfections” of the innovation process generated by dynamic, current technological progress in the knowledge-intensive sector. The “imperfections” identified in risk management, asymmetric information in the knowledge management process and hold-up problems can all disrupt collaborative partnerships and limit opportunities for innovation.Design/methodology/approachA theory-building approach is applied which offers a case study analysis of two small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These two SMEs operate in Europe but in two different territories: the UK and Italy. The study explores three key imperfections, risk management, asymmetric information in the knowledge management process and hold-up problems, which occur in the innovation process.FindingsThe entrepreneurs face these imperfections by adopting an open innovation model. Notwithstanding, both entrepreneurs had to deal with all “imperfections”, and their skills, attributes, attitude and aptitude allowed them to grow their business and continually develop new products. Therefore, the imperfections do not limit the innovative capacity of an entrepreneur but rather enhance their challengeable attitude. In this regard, the case studies induce a further analysis on entrepreneurial knowledge intertwined with entrepreneurial risk management and networking skills.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical significance of the two cases does not allow theorisation. However, this research offers interesting results which can be strengthened by a comparative case study with other countries or deeper investigation by applying a quantitative approach.Originality/valueBy leveraging entrepreneurial knowledge, the imperfections noted in the innovation process can be overcome. Entrepreneurial knowledge is recognised as the main asset of an enterprise if it is combined with external talent or human resources. Entrepreneurs aim to develop innovative approaches and ideas through establishing both formal and informal collaborative partnership relationships which are used thanks to the entrepreneurs’ networking skills, knowledge and abilities.

scholarly journals Community Energy Companies in the UK: A Potential Model for Sustainable Development in “Local” Energy?

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Séverine Saintier
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Energy Sector ◽  
Community Initiatives ◽  
Community Interest ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Energy Community ◽  
The Uk

The rise of renewable energy sources (RES) comes with a shift in attention from government and market energy governance to local community initiatives and self-regulation. Although this shift is generally welcome at domestic and EU level, the regulatory dimension, at both levels, is nevertheless not adapted to this multi-actor market since prosumers are not empowered and energy justice is far from achieved. The rise, in the UK, of Community Interest Companies (consumers and local actors’ collectives) in the energy sector provides an interesting perspective as it allows a whole system’s view. Research was conducted with six energy community organizations in the South West of England in order to evaluate their role and identity and assess whether this exemplar of “the rise of a social sphere in regulation” could be used as a model for a more sustainable social approach to the governance of economic relations. Findings illustrate that such organizations undoubtedly play an important role in the renewable energy sector and they also help to alleviate some aspects of “energy injustice”. Yet, the failure to recognize, in terms of energy policy, at domestic and EU level, the importance of such actors undermines their role. The need to embed and support such organizations in policy is necessary if one is to succeed to put justice at the core of the changing energy landscape.

scholarly journals Renters Rising! Extending the analysis of housing activism in Europe to the UK

Araucaria ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 147-171
Author(s):  
Andrew Mathers
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Social Backgrounds

The material effects of austerity in the United Kingdom (UK) have generated a resurgence of activist initiatives in the field of housing central to which is ACORN that has developed into a federated organisation contesting housing practices and policies at both local and national levels. ACORN is used to expand the examination of housing activism in Europe beyond the cases in Spain and Germany to the UK (Ordonez et al, 2015). This article also utilises the qualitative methodology of a comparative case study and the framework of ideological and social backgrounds, political repertoires and political logics to present and analyse ACORN. While ACORN displays striking similarities to other cases, it also represents a different trajectory in housing activism that combines direct action with an engagement with party politics as social democracy seeks to return to its roots.

scholarly journals GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE SPACES AS AN INSTRUMENT PROMOTING YOUTH INTEGRATION AND PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL COMMUNITY

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Jaszczak ◽  
Gintarė Vaznonienė ◽  
Bernardas Vaznonis
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Social Benefit ◽  
Community Research ◽  
Health Improvement ◽  
Activity Promotion ◽  
The Status ◽  
Local Actors

Insufficient analysis of green infrastructure spaces benefit to youth activity promotion in Lithuanian social sciences discourse enabled to formulate scientific problem – what can be possibilities of using green infrastructure spaces while strengthening youth integration and participation in local community? The aim of the article – after analyzing social benefit of green infrastructure spaces to youth, to determine their usage possibilities for strengthening youth integration and participation in local community. Research methods: scientific literature, document analysis and synthesis, abstraction and comparison methods. Šiauliai district Kuršėnai town environmentally directed school’s projects were analysed for the case study. For youth, green infrastructure spaces are the areas for environmental education, health improvement, strengthening of their integration and participation in local community through various activities. Youth gradually become involved into social activity where their status of a passive participant changes into the status of an active participant. Case study can be used by various local actors (other schools, community, teachers, parents etc.) strengthening integration and participation of youth in local community by using GI spaces.

scholarly journals Sociotechnical imaginaries of low-carbon waste-energy futures: UK techno-market fixes displacing public accountability

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 609-641
Author(s):  
Les Levidow ◽  
Sujatha Raman
Keyword(s):  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
Energy Futures ◽  
Sociotechnical Imaginaries ◽  
Waste Energy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Low Carbon Technologies

To implement EU climate policy, the UK’s New Labour government (1997–2010) elaborated an ecomodernist policy framework. It promoted technological innovation to provide low-carbon renewable energy, especially by treating waste as a resource. This framework discursively accommodated rival sociotechnical imaginaries, understood as visions of feasible and desirable futures available through technoscientific development. According to the dominant imaginary, techno-market fixes stimulate low-carbon technologies by making current centralized systems more resource-efficient (as promoted by industry incumbents). According to the alternative eco-localization imaginary, a shift to low-carbon systems should instead localize resource flows, output uses and institutional responsibility (as promoted by civil society groups). The UK government policy framework gained political authority by accommodating both imaginaries. As we show by drawing on three case studies, the realization of both imaginaries depended on institutional changes and material-economic resources of distinctive kinds. In practice, financial incentives drove technological design towards trajectories that favour the dominant sociotechnical imaginary, while marginalizing the eco-localization imaginary and its environmental benefits. The ecomodernist policy framework relegates responsibility to anonymous markets, thus displacing public accountability of the state and industry. These dynamics indicate the need for STS research on how alternative sociotechnical imaginaries mobilize support for their realization, rather than be absorbed into the dominant imaginary.

scholarly journals Accountability dilemmas and identity struggles

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Karin Stockenstrand
Keyword(s):  
Management Strategy ◽  
Strategy Management ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Managerial Decisions ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Higher Purpose ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to add to our understanding of how external factors such as funding and external accountabilities affect the organisational inner workings, especially identity issues. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a comparative case study of two professional chamber orchestras, one in Sweden and one in the UK. The two orchestras had significantly different funding conditions and had different relations with funders and were thus exposed to different kinds of accountability dilemmas. The two organisations were studied using and ethnographically inspired approach. The developments of various parts of the organisations were studied, such as funding, management, strategy, management control and identity issues. Findings The paper illustrates how the solution to accountability dilemmas in an organisation can, over time, result in the protection or the dilution of a perceived organisational core and thus in an identity struggle. Especially, management has to deal with the balance between financial and operational accountability, where organisational members could perceive the decisions to be confirming or rejecting what they perceived as being the higher purpose of their work. Practical implications This paper may help managers become more aware of the long ranging consequences of managerial decisions and how such decisions may affect the identity orientation of organisational members. Originality/value The paper combines the concept of identity with the concept of accountability, something that has not been done to a large extent in previous research.

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