Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Shared renewables is a democratic system, in which a community or neighborhood collectively owns or operates small-scale energy systems. The co-owners do not necessarily have to be neighbors — or even live near each other — depending on the type of system.
Join Anya Schoolman of the Community Power Network and John Farrell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance who will lead a discussion on how states and communities can push past Trump’s dirty energy agenda, drive down energy cost and boost renewable energy growth.
In a sharing vision of a local renewable energy system, many households will generate their own renewable energy (as in solar photovoltaic or solar thermal systems on their rooftops), but many more, for whom this is not an option, will share in the ownership and operation of off-site renewable energy generation infrastructure such as wind turbines.
People soon realized it was not enough to just say no. They needed to offer a better alternative and say yes to something. So the Germans demanded what has since become known as energy democracy: the right to make your own energy.
Is energy a mere commodity, or is it a common good? Why is this relevant in the first place? Here we look at why energy is part of our commons, from the sources to the product itself.
Permanent Community Energy Cooperatives are an opportunity to start healing the planet and communities today through equitable energy development. They’re also “fun-work” that can bring people together, create results to celebrate, and build stronger bonds for more resilient, thriving communities.
Community energy refers to any kind of power plant using a renewable source of energy, that has been planned, financed and which is owned by a community of people (from the village to the house). And why would these energy communities matter?
Around the world, the idea that communities install, own, and enjoy some of the benefits of renewable energy is growing fast.
When we fit solar on community buildings, the buildings get cheaper and greener electricity, local people can obviously invest in what we’re doing, and we’ve set up a community fund that will cross-subsidise other energy projects, and indeed, community projects more generally.
I think that if you haven’t built connections with other people when good things are happening, they probably won’t be there when bad things are happening. Community is created by filling the cup that you share with other people…
Impact investing is investing to achieve a return in something you also believe in and wish to support.
In a December 2014 report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, John Farrell makes the case for a more radical shift, which he calls "Utility 3.0" or "energy democracy."
