Three researchers from the UPV/EHU’s Faculty of Engineering - Bilbao and the University of Valladolid have explored how renewable energy cooperatives have evolved.
Three researchers from the UPV/EHU’s Faculty of Engineering - Bilbao and the University of Valladolid have explored how renewable energy cooperatives have evolved.
They have found that these cooperatives have developed a significant capacity to survive and adapt in response to the hostile context brought about by the economic and political regime. And even though interest in these cooperatives is on the increase, they still have limited weight within the Spanish energy system.
The transition from fossil to renewable energy sources is a necessary condition for the sustainability of human societies. There are movements in societies seeking to make this transition “not merely technological but also designed to exploit the capacity for social transformation they offer, given the possibility of their modular use and capacity for producing energy on a local level”, said Álvaro Campos-Celador, researcher in the Department of Thermal Engines and Machines of the UPV/EHU’s Faculty of Engineering - Bilbao and author of the study, together with Jon Terés-Zubiaga of the same department, and Iñigo Capellán-Pérez of the University of Valladolid.
Renewable energy cooperatives are good candidates for this; they are made up of groups of citizens and undertake to generate and market renewable energy. “Models of this type could replace the current energy model, which is virtually in the hands of five major companies, and make it more democratic, non-profit making, and one in which citizens can play an active role in energy, which is something so important and central to their lives,” pointed out Jon Terés.
Read more at University of the Basque Country
Image: Meeting to incorporate the renewable energy cooperative Som Energia. (Credit: Som Energia Cooperativa)
