Potential of Renewable Energy Sources Cooperatives towards Sustainable

Potential of Renewable Energy Sources Cooperatives towards Sustainable Degrowth in Spain Iñigo Capellán-Pérez, Álvaro Campos-Celador, Jon Terés-Zubiaga

What is a Renewable Energy Sources Cooperative (REScoop)? • Social enterprises where citizens jointly own and participate in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. • Many definitions exist. Main principles from REScoop. eu: o Voluntary and open membership o Democratic member control o Economic participation and direct ownership o Autonomy and independence o Education, training and information o Cooperation among cooperatives o Concern for community In accordance with Degrowth proposals! http: //www. rescoop. eu 2

Motivation & Objectives • Personal experience: work in Academia + volunteering in REScoops: o REScoop model in Spain is unfrequent and little research has been directed to investigate it. o Dominant perceived assumption that RES can subtitute fossil fuels without challenging the system. • Our objective: to contribute to (succesful) REScoop development! (coproduction of knowledge) 3

Outline 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Energy & Degrowth REScoops & Degrowth Methodology Spanish context & REScoops Spanish REScoops as a potential instrument towards Degrowth 4

Energy & Degrowth (White 1943; Cottrell 1955; Tainter 1990) • Link between energy use & social complexity/type of development (cultural) • Link between energy use and GDP/economic activity (e. g. Bithas & Kalimeris 2013) • Level of energy use of advanced capitalistic economies is unsustainable (based on non-renewable resources & social inequalities, producing environmental damages): (1990↔ 100%) → Reduction of energy use! Advanced capitalistic economies Rest of the world (Ayres 2008, Capellán. Pérez et al 2015) 5

Energy & Degrowth (White 1943; Cottrell 1955; Tainter 1990) • Link between energy use & social complexity/type of development (cultural) • Link between energy use and GDP/economic activity (e. g. Bithas & Kalimeris 2013) • Level of energy use of advanced capitalistic economies is unsustainable (based on non-renewable resources & social inequalities, producing environmental damages): (Ayres 2008, Capellán. Pérez et al 2015) (e. g. Sorman & Giampietro 2013) • This reduction will have implications at societal/economic level! • Future energy supply based on renewable energies. In comparison to fossil fuels: • Worse/lower biophysical potential vs. better “political” potential! 6

Overview of REScoops in Europe • 2, 400 REScoops • Geographical distribution: Review: (Kunze & Becker 2014) • Mostly in Western Europe (Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, northern Italy, Sweden, the UK and France), and to a lesser extent in South Italy and Spain. • Little progress in Central and Eastern Europe. • Energy produced: • Electricity (wind, solar PV, biomass, etc. ) • Thermal (district heating) • Biogas • Economic activities: • Production of energy • Distribution • Retailing http: //www. rescoop. eu 7

REScoops & Degrowth • Analysis of 4 representative cases from Wales, Italy, Spain & Germany: (Kunze & Becker 2015) → REScoops have a great potential to contribute for a turn towards Degrowth: o Focus on satisfying needs, not creating new ones. o Not-for-profit companies: profits are directed to cover operating costs and required investments. o High level of social & environmental awareness of the members. This potential is strongly limited due to the o Re-localization of the energy production, relocalizing need to operate in a “growth system”: impacts but also economic activity (e. g. jobs). o Profit motive, o Descentralized functioning + democratic decisions. o Growth imperative. 8

Methodology 1. Review of RESCoops in Spain (members from REScoop. eu) 2. Analysis of their evolution in the Spanish context (MLP in paper) 3. Assessment of the potential towards Sustainable Degrowth: o Strenghts o Barriers o Opportunities 9

Spanish context (electric system) • No tradition of collective ownership of RES until recently. • Competition exists only in generation and retailing. (Romero-Rubio & de Andrés-Díaz 2015) 10

Spanish context (electric system) • No tradition of collective ownership of RES until recently. • Competition exists only in generation and retailing. Hostile legal/political context towards RES Favourable legal/political context towards RES 1997 (Romero-Rubio & de Andrés-Díaz 2015) Economic crisis 2012 Reduction of energy demand: RES is seen as a competitor vs. Fossil fuels from traditional retailers: Demonization campaign against RES + oligopolistic market (political influence) 11

Spanish context (electric system) • No tradition of collective ownership of RES until recently. • Competition exists only in generation and retailing. Hostile legal/political context towards RES Favourable legal/political context towards RES Most RES promoted by traditional utilities! 1997 (Romero-Rubio & de Andrés-Díaz 2015) 2004 (Feed-in-tariff) 2010 2012 Cooperatives allowed to retail electricity 12

Spanish REScoops REScoop* Som Energia Zencer Goi. Ener Solabria Nosa Enerxía EnergÉtica 5 traditional companies (UNESA) Creation 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 - Members Contracts (july 2015) 20, 700 850** 3, 350 60 123 146 - 26, 100 1, 010** 3. 235 30 36 27, 700, 000 (dec. 2013) *members of the European Federation REScoop. eu; **data for May 2015. Energy retailed GWh Own generation % (2014) 45 3. 3 3 0 0 0 182, 000 (2013) ≈ 6% 112% (2013) 13

Spanish REScoops as a potential instrument towards Degrowth 14

Strengths for Degrowth “General” strengths mentioned earlier + specific from Spain: o Hybrid organization: enterprise and social movement (e. g. volunteers, local action groups, etc. ) o Adaptative at different scales (territory, temporal) and eventualities (e. g. “Recupera el sol”, Generationk. Wh –energetic interest rates-). o Great capacity of spreading new ideas at social and political level (e. g. collaboration of Som Energia with towns for the creation of municipal energy companies). o Weak but increasing collaboration between Spanish REScoops: o Collaboration agreements. o Creation of the Spanish Federation of REScoops (May 2016). 15

Barriers & opportunities for Degrowth (1) SOLUTIONS / OPPORTUNITIES REScoop model unfrequent ↑ membership Difficult participation! • Update/improve participation methods • After certain level of growth of each REScoop, mutation toward more simple interrelated structures Spread the model! Main focus in electricity + hostile legal/political context Not all renewable technologies are sustainable/compatible with Degrowth! • Promotion of the electrification of final demand • Diversification of energy generation • Sustainable design and fabrication of the systems: types of materials, recyclability, location of the manufacture industries. • Give priority to “simple” technologies that can be manufactured with local materials locally. 16

Barriers & opportunities for Degrowth (2) SOLUTIONS / OPPORTUNITIES ↑ efficiency improvements Most RES generation is owned by traditional utilities ↓energy expenses ↓energy consumption ↑ expenses in other goods & services! (rebound!) ↑ RES generation (e. g. cover membership consumption) It will just add more generation! Requires system change! (co-evolution) 17

Conclusions • Energy generation, property and management is a key element of designing a Degrowth society. • REScoops have contributed to bring the “energy case” to the social debate in Spain. • As degrowth scholar/activists we have to make an effort to bring the “Degrowth case” to the REScoops! o Promote debates between the members of the REScoops about the growth/Degrowth paradigms, the RES potential, the sustainability of RES technologies, etc. o Promotion of related alternative, independent research. o Objective: to contribute to (succesful) REScoop development! (co-production of knowledge) 18

Thanks! Acknowledgements: inigocapelll@gmail. com alvaro. campos@ehu. es jon. teres@ehu. es 19

References Ayres, Robert U. “Sustainability Economics: Where Do We Stand? ” Ecological Economics 67, no. 2 (Setiembre 2008): 281– 310. doi: 10. 1016/j. ecolecon. 2007. 12. 009. Bithas, K. , and P. Kalimeris. “Re-Estimating the Decoupling Effect: Is There an Actual Transition towards a Less Energy-Intensive Economy? ” Energy 51 (March 1, 2013): 78– 84. doi: 10. 1016/j. energy. 2012. 11. 033. Capellán-Pérez, Iñigo, Margarita Mediavilla, Carlos de Castro, Óscar Carpintero, and Luis Javier Miguel. “More Growth? An Unfeasible Option to Overcome Critical Energy Constraints and Climate Change. ” Sustainability Science, April 25, 2015, 1– 15. doi: 10. 1007/s 11625 -015 -0299 -3. Cottrell, Fred. Energy and Society: The Relation Between Energy, Social Change, and Economic Development. Author. House, 2009. Huybrechts, Benjamin. “Social Enterprise, Social Innovation and Alternative Economies: Insights from Fair Trade and Renewable Energy. ” Alternative Economies and Spaces. New Perspectives for a Sustainable Economy, 2013, 113– 130. Kunze, Conrad, and Sören Becker. “Energy Democracy in Europe: A Survey and Outlook. ” Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, 2014. Kunze, Conrad, and Sören Becker. “Collective Ownership in Renewable Energy and Opportunities for Sustainable Degrowth. ” Sustainability Science, May 27, 2015, 1– 13. doi: 10. 1007/s 11625 -015 -0301 -0. Romero-Rubio, Carmen, and José Ramón de Andrés Díaz. “Sustainable Energy Communities: A Study Contrasting Spain and Germany. ” Energy Policy 85 (October 2015): 397– 409. doi: 10. 1016/j. enpol. 2015. 06. 012. Sorman, Alevgul H. , and Mario Giampietro. “The Energetic Metabolism of Societies and the Degrowth Paradigm: Analyzing Biophysical Constraints and Realities. ” Journal of Cleaner Production 38 (Enero 2013): 80– 93. doi: 10. 1016/j. jclepro. 2011. 059. Tainter, Joseph A. The Collapse of Complex Societies. Reprint edition. Cambridge, Cambridgeshire; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. White, Leslie A. “Energy and the Evolution of Culture. ” American Anthropologist, 1943, 335– 356. 20

Annexes 21

Agrarian & industrial sociometabolic regimes (White 1943; Cottrell 1955; Tainter 1990) • Link between energy use & social complexity/type of development (cultural) • Link between energy use and GDP/economic activity • Level of energy use of industrialized economies is unsustainable: (environmental damages, based on non-renewable resources & inequalities) (Krausmann et al 2008) 22

Spanish REScoops as a potential instrument towards Degrowth • Strengths, barriers & opportunities derived from: o Being social enterprises (e. g. (Johanisova et al. , 2013)) o Being REScoops (e. g. (Kunze and Becker, 2015)) o Operating in the particular context of Spain KEY: No Spanish REScoop explicitely aims towards Degrowth 23

Barriers & opportunities for Degrowth (3) SOLUTIONS / OPPORTUNITIES Operation in forprofit/growth (hostile) environment creates contradictions • ↓ “economically” competitivity • Potential denaturation of the intended change • Innovation & participation towards adaptation • Work social & environmental awareness of members • Public image that transmits the benefits of the REScoop (Huybrechts 2013) e. g. Som Energia: • Sustainability criteria for the construction of renewable-based facilities • But hostile legal framework hinders the construction of new facilities • Generationk. Wh (energetic interest rates – i. e. “power share”) • But solar plant on the ground contradicting the sustainability criteria of the REScoop! 24

Further work • Improve selection criteria for indentifying REScoops • Create a network of Spanish researchers to monitorize the evolution of the REScoops in the country • Make useful our work for them! 25