• Energy Research

It is assumed by the projects demonstrating Positive Energy District (PED) concepts in cities across Europe that citizens should want and need to be involved in the development of new energy concepts, such as PEDs for these concepts to be deployed successfully. Six different PED research and innovation projects are investigating the types and expectations of citizen engagement. They evaluate the impact of energy citizenship on the success of PED deployment across Europe.

non-peer-reviewed If you walk through Limerick’s Georgian streets and cast your eyes downward, you might notice a square object punctuating the surface of the path – a cast iron plate in a limestone frame, cut from a single block. When the plate is removed, the opening leads to a brick vault running beneath the street. These openings were used for the delivery of fuel, coal mainly, but also turf to the basements of Georgian buildings. From there, the fuel was distributed to fireplaces beautifully and elegantly articulated in the Georgian style. The coal holes, brick vaults, fireplaces, and chimneys all describe the energy infrastructure of the late eighteenth century when Limerick’s Georgian city, Newtown Pery, was built. Though coal has been replaced by electricity and gas, our present-day energy infrastructure is still reliant on carbon-based fuels and we now know that this must change.

It is commonly assumed by the projects demonstrating concepts for positive energy districts in cities across Europe that citizens want and need to be involved in the development of these concepts as an essential condition for positive energy districts to be deployed successfully and to achieve the expected societal goals. Six different research and innovation projects are investigating the different forms of energy citizenship in positive energy districts and their impacts. They aim to apply a transdisciplinary approach to collaborative research and to impact assessment. The interim results are described, and preliminary conclusions on impact are drawn. The projects each used different approaches to engaging citizens, while differentiating between different groups. Progress is monitored but only fragmentary evidence on the impact has been gathered. Transdisciplinary approaches are being developed but are still immature.