eprintid: 1461374 rev_number: 31 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/01/46/13/74 datestamp: 2015-02-06 21:42:31 lastmod: 2021-09-20 22:23:22 status_changed: 2015-02-06 21:42:25 type: article metadata_visibility: show item_issues_count: 0 creators_name: Doci, G creators_name: Vasileiadou, E creators_name: Petersen, AC title: Exploring the transition potential of renewable energy communities ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B04 divisions: C05 divisions: J39 keywords: Multi Level Perspective, Social niche, Social innovation, Renewable energy communities note: © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). abstract: Renewable energy communities are grassroots initiatives that invest in ‘clean energy’ in order to meet consumption needs and environmental goals and thereby – often unwittingly – conduce to the spread of renewables. Our aim in the present study is to explore the potential of renewable energy communities in the Netherlands, as social niches, to contribute to transitions in the energy system. To do so, we propose three proxies for measuring the transition potential of social niches, based on proxies for technological innovations derived from the literature. In addition, we reinterpret the notion of niches and the way transition occurs by arguing that niches are complex systems in which both technological and social innovations develop simultaneously and that during a transition entire niches link up with the regime. Furthermore, we make a distinction between internally and externally oriented niches based on their orientation and application focus. We use a comparative case study analysis complemented by a systematic literature and documentary review to show that these communities are already changing the Dutch energy system, by connecting to regime actors. Their further advancement depends on strengthening their links to established actors, but also on providing a favorable regulatory framework. date: 2015-02 official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2015.01.002 vfaculties: VENG oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_source: Scopus elements_id: 1010136 doi: 10.1016/j.futures.2015.01.002 lyricists_name: Petersen, Arthur lyricists_id: APETE53 full_text_status: public publication: FUTURES volume: 66 pagerange: 85-95 issn: 0016-3287 citation: Doci, G; Vasileiadou, E; Petersen, AC; (2015) Exploring the transition potential of renewable energy communities. FUTURES , 66 pp. 85-95. 10.1016/j.futures.2015.01.002 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2015.01.002>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1461374/1/Do%CC%81ci%20et%20al%20Futures%202015.pdf