{"title":"Embracing complexity: Microgrids and community engagement in Australia","authors":"Farzan Tahir, Scott Dwyer, Scott Kelly","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103811","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the context of the energy transition and a changing climate, microgrids have emerged as a promising solution for ensuring a resilient and reliable electricity supply for rural and remote areas. Beyond the technical and economic considerations, social acceptance will be immensely important if microgrids are to be widely adopted by the people who live in these communities. This requires complex community engagement strategies delivered by knowledgeable practitioners, encouraging collaborative participation and active community involvement in decision-making. This study investigated how community engagement was applied by nineteen organisations that received funding to undertake microgrid feasibility studies for ninety communities across Australia between 2020 and 2024. A Community-based Participatory research (CBPR) framework was employed to uncover the challenges encountered at each step of the engagement process and what was done to overcome them. The study revealed major community engagement challenges, including inadequate funding, low energy literacy levels, and engagement fatigue. The findings also suggest that due to the inherent complexity of microgrids, these projects need to take an iterative and flexible approach, planning for expansive and resource-intensive engagement with the community to be effective. The research findings provide valuable insights for community engagement practitioners, policymakers, and service providers involved in planning microgrids and developing related policies and programs for rural and remote communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103811"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Energy Research & Social Science","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221462962400402X","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In the context of the energy transition and a changing climate, microgrids have emerged as a promising solution for ensuring a resilient and reliable electricity supply for rural and remote areas. Beyond the technical and economic considerations, social acceptance will be immensely important if microgrids are to be widely adopted by the people who live in these communities. This requires complex community engagement strategies delivered by knowledgeable practitioners, encouraging collaborative participation and active community involvement in decision-making. This study investigated how community engagement was applied by nineteen organisations that received funding to undertake microgrid feasibility studies for ninety communities across Australia between 2020 and 2024. A Community-based Participatory research (CBPR) framework was employed to uncover the challenges encountered at each step of the engagement process and what was done to overcome them. The study revealed major community engagement challenges, including inadequate funding, low energy literacy levels, and engagement fatigue. The findings also suggest that due to the inherent complexity of microgrids, these projects need to take an iterative and flexible approach, planning for expansive and resource-intensive engagement with the community to be effective. The research findings provide valuable insights for community engagement practitioners, policymakers, and service providers involved in planning microgrids and developing related policies and programs for rural and remote communities.
期刊介绍:
Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) is a peer-reviewed international journal that publishes original research and review articles examining the relationship between energy systems and society. ERSS covers a range of topics revolving around the intersection of energy technologies, fuels, and resources on one side and social processes and influences - including communities of energy users, people affected by energy production, social institutions, customs, traditions, behaviors, and policies - on the other. Put another way, ERSS investigates the social system surrounding energy technology and hardware. ERSS is relevant for energy practitioners, researchers interested in the social aspects of energy production or use, and policymakers.
Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) provides an interdisciplinary forum to discuss how social and technical issues related to energy production and consumption interact. Energy production, distribution, and consumption all have both technical and human components, and the latter involves the human causes and consequences of energy-related activities and processes as well as social structures that shape how people interact with energy systems. Energy analysis, therefore, needs to look beyond the dimensions of technology and economics to include these social and human elements.