Facilitating Regional Energy Transition Strategies: Toward a Typology of Regions

Abstract

Abstract:The regional level is essential for the use of renewable energies since on this level national political goals are harmonized with implementation activities. Hence, regional strategies can, we argue, be useful. Yet, these strategies must be tailored to meet a variety of contextual conditions. Within this study, we identified natural and socio-economic conditions that need to be considered when developing regional strategies for Energiewende. Focusing on these conditions, we conducted a multivariate statistical analysis of all 412 German districts (Landkreise). We identified nine energy context types characterized by different renewable energy potentials and socio-economic conditions. We propose to develop one generic regional energy transition strategy for each of the energy context types. These can serve as a governance tool that operationalizes and allocates national Energiewende goals according to regional contextual conditions. Moreover, the energy context types may support regional decision makers by allowing them to prioritize steps in the transition process, to establish networks with, and to learn from, similar regions.

Scaling the impact of sustainability initiatives: a typology of amplification processes

“…The relevant context of an initiative is characterised by the type of initiative. For example, the relevant context of a green energy initiative can be the access to technology (Zemp et al 2011;Lutz et al 2017); whilst the relevant context for an initiative that aims to promote locally and sustainably produced food can be the food system. Growing entails the expansion of the impact range (Bennett et al 2016;Naber et al 2017).…”

Geographic network effects to engage people in the energy transition: The case of PV in Switzerland

“…Regions play an important role in the implementation of the energy transition [ 8 , 9 ]. Regional structures, such as Energieregionen in Austria, seem to support the energy transition by acting as contact points and information providers close to the local people [ [10] , [11] , [12] ].…”

What about the regional level? Regional configurations of Technological Innovation Systems

“…Recent contributions combine some of these complementary elements from TIS and RIS more or less explicitly as to analyze regional dynamics in technological development and diffusion, using empirical examples from biomass-based industries (Martin, 2016;Martin and Coenen, 2015), renewable energy (Lutz et al, 2017;Mattes et al, 2015), and self-driving cars (Miörner and Trippl, 2019). Most studies agree on the RIS perspective's value in accounting comprehensively for system elements at the regional level.…”

“…There are few comparisons of regional cases in this literature, but they do not link results and their implications back to the TIS and RIS frameworks: For instance, Lutz et al (2017) identify nine 'energy context types', based on natural and socio-economic conditions for renewables in all German districts. For these types, they derive generic policy strategies, without accounting for actors, institutions, and past experiences with the technology in the region.…”