Regional initiatives

Jühnde Bio-Energy-Village: Jühnde (Lower Saxony) is Germany’s first village to produce heat and electricity by means of renewable biomass (energetic plants in form of silage and wood chips), thus creating a CO₂ neutral balance.  In fact, Jühnde is the first municipality that covers its entire demand for electricity and heating from local renewable energy sources (http://www.bioenergiedorf.de/home.html).

German Bioenergy Villages: A bioenergy village (http://www.wege-zum-bioenergiedorf.de/bioenergiedoerfer/) covers at least 50% of its energy needs (electricity and heat)  with regionally produced bioenergy. Citizens are involved in the decision-making processes and support the idea of the ​​bioenergy village. The bioenergy plants are at least partly owned by the heat supplier or the local farmers while the biomass that is used comes from the closeby area. The production of heat and electricity from biomass can be supplemented by the use of other renewable energy sources. Here you can find the full list of the German Bioenergy Villages.

LEAP: LEAP – Local Energy ADventure Partnership – is a cross-sector partnership seeking to support urban food waste management through the development of small-scale anaerobic digestion. The partnership was first funded by the London Borough of Camden in 2012, and has since been supported by the Technology Strategy Board and WRAP (http://communitybydesign.co.uk/pages/index).

Local Energy Scotland: Local Energy Scotland (www.localenergyscotland.org) is a consortium that administers and manages the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES). The purpose of CARES is to support the development of locally-owned renewable energy projects which provide wider community benefits. Loan finance is available to cover the pre-planning consent (high risk) stage of project development, a high risk cost which is widely seen as a barrier to community groups and smaller businesses who would otherwise wish to develop a project.

Low Carbon Hub: Low Carbon Hub (www.lowcarbonhub.org) is a social enterprise, working for a massive change in the UK’s energy system. It supports that there is a need to become much more local about energy systems, and much more renewable, so that the benefits of renewable energy generation strengthen local communities. The enterprise develops community-owned renewable energy in Oxfordshire and re-invests 100% of our the surplus in their mission to create an energy system that can all feel good about.

Community Energy Coalition: The Community Energy Coalition (CEC) was formed in 2011 by some of the UK’s most influential and trusted institutions and charities such as the Church of England, the Women’s Institute (WI), the National Union of Students (NUS) and the National Trust. For the full list of members, click here. Its aim is to ignite an energy revolution which places communities at its heart and strives for a clean, affordable and secure energy system for all. In doind so, the organisation helps communities across the UK to own, generate and save energy together(www.ukcec.org).

Community Energy England: Community Energy England represents and supports those committed to creating the conditions within which the community energy sector can rapidly scale and grow across the country. Community energy includes the delivery of community renewables, energy efficiency, demand reduction and energy supply projects as further described here. Community Energy England (CEE) is the operating name of Community Energy Association (England) Limited, which is a not for profit company (communityenergyengland.org).

Community Energy Scotland: Community Energy Scotlandis a registered charity that provides practical help for communities on green energy development and energy conservation. This initiative provides detailed, independent and ongoing support for all aspects of community energy project development, from micro to megawatt scale; it helps broadcast the specific difficulties faced by the community sector and by bringing communities and policy makers together, it tries to find new ways forward (communityenergyscotland.org.uk).

CLuBE: The Cluster of Bioenergy and Environment of Western Macedonia (CLuBE) is a platform for cooperation of the three pillars of the regional economy: the public sector, research and entrepreneurship. The Cluster seeks to develop synergies between local and regional players and businesses in bioenergy and the environment, aiming at introducing and developing innovation in the sector and increasing its added value (clube.gr)