The Role of Regional Strategies in Realising Energy Neutrality in Regions: Experiences from the EU-LEE Project SUSREG

Abstract

The EU has high ambitions with respect to climate change mitigation and energy independence, but realisation of these ambitions is still in its infancy. SUSREG is a project within the IEE programme (Intelligent Energy Europe) that develops knowledge and tools in this respect. Knowledge partners and local and regional authorities in six countries develop and implement planning tools contributing to energy saving and renewable energy introduction. This paper describes the activities and the preliminary results in four regions: Copenhagen (Denmark); Central Holland and the City Region of Arnhem and Nijmegen (the Netherlands); Treviso (Italy). These regions developed strategies towards energy neutrality, in a cooperation between local and regional authorities, businesses, knowledge institutes and NGOs / citizen representatives. These strategies should facilitate practical energy initiatives, like PV panels on dwellings or energy saving initiatives by housing corporations. The question discussed here is, how and to which extent bottom up initiatives really benefit from regional strategies. Do these strategies support bottom up initiatives, or are these initiatives enabled by other factors outside the scope of the region? What are possible success factors in regional strategies towards energy neutrality? Both the process leading to the regional strategy, and the contents of the strategy itself, will be considered to identify possible success factors or bottle necks. The paper describes the most important results of the regions in realising climate neutrality and energy independence, and tries to explain the results. Finally, recommendations for other regions with comparable ambitions are formulated.

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Author Information
Bauke de Vries, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Kjell Erik Bugge, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Theo de Bruijn, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands

• Category: Energy: Renewable Energy and Environmental Solutions

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

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