Energy, Sustainability and Society最新文献

{"title":"A systematic review of literature on the decarbonization of the Nigerian power sector","authors":"Kesiena Owebor,&nbsp;Chukwumerije Okereke,&nbsp;Ogheneruona E. Diemuodeke,&nbsp;Abdulhameed B. Owolabi,&nbsp;Chinedum O. Nwachukwu","doi":"10.1186/s13705-025-00527-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-025-00527-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>During COP26, the Federal Government of Nigeria announced that the country aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060. However, experts are concerned that this ambitious pledge lacks a credible long-term emission reduction analysis and strategy, given Nigeria's reliance on oil. Nigeria's Nationally Determined Contribution indicates that more than half of the country's potential for reducing carbon emissions lies in the power sector. However, the installed capacity is inadequate, with 85% of grid-connected power plants and over 90% of off-grid power based on fossil fuels. In this article, the role of Nigeria's power sector in achieving the country's net-zero vision is investigated.</p><h3>Main text</h3><p>A systematic review of the literature on the decarbonization of the Nigerian power sector is conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) framework. Articles from credible peer-reviewed and grey literature databases published between 2010 and 2021 were analyzed. Based on the PRISMA methodology, 17 articles were retained for literature synthesis. The literature reviewed was classified into the following categories: energy generation and emission contributions, future emissions and reduction scenarios, drivers of emissions, emission reduction options, the economics of emissions reduction options, and policy.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>From this review can be seen that 88% of the decarbonization literature consisted of scenario studies that included emission reductions, 6% were scenario studies that did not include policy interventions and 6% were non-scenario studies. 31% and 69% of the studies focused on medium- and long-term emission reductions, respectively. The study also showed that fossil fuels, GDP, inefficient power generation technologies, inefficient end-use technologies, transmission and distribution losses, poor renewable energy financing, increasing energy demand, and policies which are not based on scientific evidence are the drivers of emissions. Despite the government's commitment to providing good access to energy for its citizens and reducing its emissions footprint, power generation in Nigeria is still poor, with an installed capacity of less than 14GW. In addition, more than 85% of the country's power generation capacity is based on fossil fuels. Having made a public commitment to achieve net zero, Nigeria's next step is to explore the different scenarios that will help the country achieve its ambitious long-term goal without compromising its socio-economic development.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-025-00527-x","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145170080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Factors influencing the transition to renewable energy in small- to mid-sized American communities","authors":"Hanan Wehbi,&nbsp;Nathan Kemper","doi":"10.1186/s13705-025-00531-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-025-00531-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>The transition to renewable energy is essential for addressing climate change and fostering sustainable communities. This involves planning and determining where, when, and how to deploy renewable energy technologies. This requires supportive policies and regulations to accommodate renewable energy sources and manage impact, as well as engagement with local communities and stakeholders to secure their support and participation in the transition process.</p><h3>Methods</h3><p>This study evaluates the impact of governance at various levels—community, county, and state—on renewable energy adoption in 87 small- to mid-sized U.S. communities with populations below 100,000. Using a multi-faceted analytical approach, this research reviews comprehensive climate action and sustainable plans to identify key drivers of renewable energy transitions. This study explores whether local government plans and multi-level governance efforts enhance renewable energy adoption in these communities. By examining the integrated policy approach, this research explores the interplay between governance levels and their collective impact on renewable energy consumption through regression and comprehensive content analysis.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>Content analysis of 134 reviewed community, county, and state plans revealed that local governments adopt renewable energy targets in their local plans less frequently than state and county governments do. Among the 87 communities studied, 63% implemented limited renewable energy consumption, with percentages ranging from 5 to 30%. In contrast, only four communities (5%) achieved full renewable energy dominance with 100% renewable energy consumption. Regression analysis identified four significant factors influencing renewable energy consumption percentages: building energy efficiency measures at the community level, sustainable land use promotion at the county level, renewable energy targets, and sustainable land use frameworks at the state level.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>This study underscores the significance of a multi-level governance approach in facilitating local energy transitions, noting that successful implementation relies on efforts from local governments. It stresses the need for integrated policy frameworks that synchronize state, county, and local actions to develop supportive policies and regulations for effective land use planning, energy efficiency measures, and community engagement to achieve renewable energy targets more effectively.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-025-00531-1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145167221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The eye of every storm: policy entrepreneurs to strengthen the role of energy efficiency in EU climate policy","authors":"Fredrik von Malmborg","doi":"10.1186/s13705-025-00529-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-025-00529-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Improving energy efficiency on a global scale is crucial to meet climate targets of the Paris Agreement and the UN sustainable development goal on ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Energy efficiency is considered the <i>first fuel</i> in the clean energy transition. Contextualising this narrative, the <i>energy efficiency first principle</i> (EE1) was introduced as a concept in EU climate policy in 2015. EE1 was made legally binding in the EU in 2023, to be applied in policy, planning and investment decisions across all sectors that affect the energy system. Understanding the process through which new legislation is developed and adopted is important for understanding the policy itself. Understanding the policy process of EE1 is particularly important since it introduces a paradigm shift in EU energy and climate policy and provides better knowledge of transformative policy change which is of general importance for policy and governance towards a clean energy transition.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>This paper determines the decade-long policy process and the agency of policy entrepreneurs to make EE1 legally binding. Based on qualitative text analysis of policy documents, position papers and reports from EU negotiations, combined with interviews of key actors, the study shows how non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as the European Commission were critical policy entrepreneurs in the process. NGOs considered the unequal treatment of energy supply and energy demand in EU energy policy to hamper efficient use of the energy system and suggested the EE1 principle to overcome this problem. Using linking strategies, relational management strategies, arena strategies, etc., NGOs persuaded the European Commission to propose legislation on EE1. But the initial framing was too technical for decision-makers to understand. Successful coupling of the problem–policy package to politics was done when problem-framing was revised, also referring to the Paris Agreement on climate change and the energy crisis in Europe following Russia’s war on Ukraine.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>It is clear that coalition-building is important for policy entrepreneurs to gain broad acceptance for their policy proposals. In addition, timing and endurance of policy entrepreneurs is of great importance for coupling a problem–policy package to politics. Political decision-makers must be receptive to the problem and its policy solution. As for EE1, it took almost 7 years before the politics stream was mature and receptive to the policy. But as identified, the agency of policy entrepreneurs can conceal the relations between informal and formal decision-making powers and thus reduce accountability, legitimacy and justice in policymaking.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-025-00529-9","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145167222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring energy resilience: households’ perspectives on a changing power system","authors":"Hanna Björner Brauer,&nbsp;Maria Håkansson,&nbsp;Sara Willermark","doi":"10.1186/s13705-025-00530-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-025-00530-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>In many countries, essential infrastructures, like power systems, are often taken for granted and thus invisible to ordinary people. However, because of energy transitions and climate impacts, the power system in countries such as Sweden is changing. For example, due to variable renewable power sources and increasing demand there is a potential need to deal with changing conditions, including disruptions at an end-use level, which makes the energy system come to the foreground. As argued in the paper, deeper knowledge about people’s understanding of a changing energy system is needed to support households in taking on new roles. The aim of this study was to explore energy resilience from a household perspective by investigating how households make sense of possible future power deficit scenarios. The concept of household energy resilience was used as a lens. Twelve interviews were conducted with people from seven households participating in a trial with remote-controlled heat pumps. The participating households all lived in detached houses in Sweden. </p><h3>Results</h3><p>The findings illustrate how the households relate to energy resilience through diverse approaches. More specifically, they anticipate the need to become resilient while questioning the idea that they should have to become resilient, and negotiate resilience as a shared responsibility between the different stakeholders of the grid. These insights reveal conditions under which households anticipate taking more active roles in a changing energy system. However, the insights also show that other energy actors need to communicate clearly which responsibilities they are taking on to support households and the energy transition overall. Households cannot be expected to embrace household energy resilience without reciprocity and other actors’ taking on responsibility.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Our results show that there is potential for more active and engaged electricity end-users, beyond, for example, flexibility programs. However, households’ active participation, including becoming more energy resilient, is conditional on challenges of value, involvement, and reciprocity. The results will be of interest to professionals involved in electricity supply-related matters including suppliers, policymakers, and researchers.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-025-00530-2","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145164538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards an integrated positive energy district landscape: technical and financial analysis for a case study in Hoogkerk, Northern Netherlands","authors":"Ifigenia Psarra,&nbsp;Adrian Figueroa,&nbsp;Esperance Mfurakazi,&nbsp;Livia Tonu,&nbsp;Alex van Spyk,&nbsp;Christian Zuidema","doi":"10.1186/s13705-025-00534-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-025-00534-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>This research study applied the 'Integrated Energy Landscape Approach and the Ecosystem Services Framework' to formulate a pre-proposal for a Positive Energy District in the Hoogkerk Zuid neighborhood in Groningen, the Netherlands.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>The proposed energy saving and energy generation interventions are sufficient to cover the energy usage of the district, while an energy surplus is generated. The pre-proposal has been developed within a participatory process, organized by the authors in close collaboration with key local stakeholders. The identification of local ecosystem services served as a crucial starting point for this study, while it also served for the basis for analysing the subsequent trade-offs and synergies derived from the proposed energy transition interventions. Then, a sustainable business case model was developed based on this Positive Energy District pre-proposal. The main outcome of the model lies in the value creation through cost savings from not using traditional energy sources and selling electricity to the grid. In addition, the economic value of the preserved ecosystem services and of the synergies generated by the pre-proposal are also included in the model.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Beyond the local case, the results lay the groundwork for more systematic studies on merging the methodologies of Positive Energy District development, the Ecosystem Framework and the Integrated Energy Landscape approach. Finally, by adding the benefits of ecosystem services and synergies as a significant contributor in the financial analysis and decision-making process, this study opens the door to a new approach to the evaluation of sustainable projects.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-025-00534-y","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145164276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing the circularity of transportation fuel production systems","authors":"Axel Lindfors,&nbsp;Roozbeh Feiz,&nbsp;Sofia Poulikidou,&nbsp;Tomas Lönnqvist,&nbsp;Anton Fagerström,&nbsp;Mark Sanctuary","doi":"10.1186/s13705-025-00535-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-025-00535-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>The circular economy represents a vision of ever-increasing importance for policy making. In this paper, the circularity of transportation fuel production systems is explored, as energy carriers are seldom the focus of existing methods. A theoretical framework for understanding the circularity of energy carriers was devised based on the renewability and secondary fractions of inputs and the recycling of outputs, which cover both biological and technical cycles. Based on this framework, and with input from actors working in the field of transport fuels, a six-step method was developed to assess the circularity of energy carriers. The method uses a life cycle perspective for assessing energy carriers across their life cycle.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>This method was applied to four production systems in the Swedish context: hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) from tall oil, ethanol from forest residues, biomethane from household food waste, and battery–electric mobility. The results showed that all studied biofuels have a high degree of circularity due to the use of secondary materials as a feedstock. The biomethane system scored the highest percentage, with a circularity score of 81%, while the HVO and ethanol systems only reached a score of 75% and 45%, respectively. The battery–electric system, on the other hand, performed worse at only 17% circularity due to the low degree of circularity in the battery production. One “greening” scenario was tested for each production system to explore the impact of possible future improvements.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The results showed that second-generation biofuels align well with the circular economy concept as they upcycle low-value resources into high-value products. At the same time, electric mobility requires a higher degree of material recirculation to further align it with the circular economy. Furthermore, all production systems indicated improvement potentials and should, therefore, be aimed at increasing their recirculation rates and use of renewable resources. In conclusion, this article gives valuable input into the broader decision process to determine which fuels should be promoted during the transition away from fossil fuels, as circularity is one aspect to be considered.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-025-00535-x","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145162278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shifting perspectives: exploring land tenure transformation through six community-based solar energy projects in the global south (Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Namibia, Indonesia, and Peru)","authors":"Bouchra El Houda Lamhamedi,&nbsp;Walter Timo de Vries","doi":"10.1186/s13705-025-00532-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-025-00532-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Sustainable development is not possible without sustainable energy, and while renewable energy minigrid and microgrid systems are regarded as a promising solution for achieving energy transition and supporting rural development in the global south, the complex relationship between the adoption of renewable energy systems and land tenure systems within rural communities remains a critical aspect that has often been overlooked in this context. This study addresses this gap by examining how small-scale community-based renewable energy systems influence land tenure transformations and whether shifts in land tenure patterns drive changes in renewable energy adoption and management strategies. </p><h3>Results</h3><p>This research adopts a qualitative comparative case study methodology, examining six community-based solar energy projects in Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Namibia, Indonesia, and Peru. Using an adapted socio-ecological systems framework based on Ostrom’s principles, the study analyzes six outcome parameters: governance, land tenure, socio-spatial relations, economic dependencies, perception, and behavior. The findings reveal complex interactions between land tenure and renewable energy adoption, demonstrating that the introduction of renewable energy systems has the potential to reshape land tenure paradigms. Specifically, changes in socio-spatial relations and economic dependencies were identified as key factors that influence community responses to renewable energy projects. These shifts also affect local governance structures, perceptions, and community behavior towards both land and energy systems.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The results highlight the need for a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between land tenure and renewable energy initiatives to foster effective rural development. Recognizing these dynamics can inform policy and practice, ensuring that renewable energy interventions are aligned with local land tenure realities and contribute to sustainable socio-economic transformations.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-025-00532-0","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145160838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding the characteristics of the green, circular and bioeconomy models within the context of sustainable development","authors":"Michelle A. Urrea Vivas,&nbsp;Luis Seguí Amórtegui,&nbsp;Hilda Guerrero-García-Rojas","doi":"10.1186/s13705-025-00528-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-025-00528-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>This paper aims to analyze, synthesize and evaluate the main differences, similarities, advantages, and disadvantages of the narratives of green economy (GE), circular economy (CE) and bioeconomy (BE) models within a sustainability framework. The article seeks to provide a critical comparison of the notion of three models, related in their concepts, approaches and tools, as well as establish and analyze the strategies that lead to a change in the dominant paradigms in sustainability applications.</p><h3>Main text</h3><p>The emerging green, circular and bioeconomy approaches focus on proposing strategies that lead to sustainability. This study shows that despite their notable conceptual differences, a model that adapts to rapid changes in the needs and limitations of natural resources is common across all approaches. However, in terms of analysis and application, they are not always clear because of the complexity of differentiating approaches, conceptual incorporation frameworks and analytical tools. The results show that, in the environmental dimension, the circular economy and bioeconomy focus on resource management, whereas the green economy starts by analyzing ecological processes to reduce environmental risk and ecological scarcity. In the economic dimension, the circular economy aims to decouple economic growth from environmental pressure, whereas the bioeconomy emphasizes the processing and enhancement of biological raw materials to foster new value chains.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The findings of this paper clarify the limits, synergies, and differences in sustainability between the concepts of the green economy (GE), the circular economy (CE) and the bioeconomy (BE), and address gaps in the literature. These concepts continue to be limited by their economic growth; limits in the interrelation between the biosphere and individuals; and specific assessments of the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainable management.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-025-00528-w","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145167639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Navigating the winds of change: presentation of wind power development by regional newspapers in Northern Sweden and Finland","authors":"Therese Bjärstig,&nbsp;Hanna Lempinen","doi":"10.1186/s13705-025-00526-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-025-00526-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Dramatic reductions in anthropogenic CO₂ emissions are needed to mitigate the impacts of rapidly accelerating climate change. In Sweden and Finland efforts to realize the political ambitions to meet international climate objectives, and promote the growth of ‘green’ industries, have focused on rapid expansion of wind farms, but in both countries wind power developments have been controversial. These controversies are especially prominent in the northern regions of the countries which have become hotspots of wind power development. In this article, we focus on these regional wind power debates with the aim to extend scholarly understanding of the spatial justice dimensions of how ‘just’ and ‘green’ transitions unfold. We do this by examining representations of the ways in which the effects of regional wind power development, their management and the ‘right’ places for wind power are debated in 372 articles in Swedish and Finnish regional news media published during 2020–2023.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>In regional media representations, wind power is discussed in terms of a wide range of experienced and potential impacts. Negative impacts including harm to the environment, biodiversity and human health are discussed. Yet, the positive effects are emphasized, including contributions to national policy goals and the regional socioeconomic benefits of the emergence of a green, low-carbon economy in both the Swedish and Finnish articles. However, envisioned means for managing wind power development in a fair manner differ: compensations and the right to municipal veto are strongly highlighted in the Swedish articles, while Finnish articles focus on the integrity of democratic processes and planning. As the green transition continues to unfold, northern regions are increasingly being represented as the ‘right’ places for wind power, both from outside and within those regions.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Our findings highlight the perceived importance of local and regional socioeconomic benefits and local self-determination for positive perceptions of large-scale wind power developments in our focal administrative and legal contexts. Local and regional histories and encounters with earlier resource development continue to shape reactions to and interpretations of resource development projects in contemporary Euro-Arctic North.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-025-00526-y","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144140147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Drivers and constraints in an emerging rural biogas system: actors’ perceptions from Northern Savonia","authors":"Kalle Aro,&nbsp;Matti Kojo,&nbsp;Pasi Rikkonen,&nbsp;Saija Rasi","doi":"10.1186/s13705-025-00524-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-025-00524-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>The biogas niche is usually approached from a top-down perspective, and its actors are considered a unanimous advocacy group in the national policy discourse. This setting downplays the diversity of actors and their opinions at a subnational level.  In this study, ten biogas actors from the farm-level, industry, regional administration, and potential end-users in the Finnish region of Northern Savonia were interviewed. The actors’ perceptions of the national and regional biogas sectors were explored.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>The national biogas policy framework appears discontinuous, and statements regarding biogas targets are perceived as ambiguous, thus lacking creditability at a local level. The economic feasibility of rural biogas production places a strong boundary condition for the local biogas system. When moving from the national to a local level, individual actor’s perception of the optimal value chain becomes highlighted. Extending the actor network beyond the regional context was deemed vital for the long-term stability of the locally emergent biogas ecosystem. As municipalities can influence both production and consumption domains, they were called to play a more active role in constructing local biogas systems.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The results of this study provided three insights: (1) social, political, and environmental drivers influence the biogas sector in addition to techno-economic drivers; (2) drivers and constraints are perceived differently by actors in agricultural biogas production than by actors in distribution and end-use; and (3) the local biogas niche contains partly divergent perceptions of how the biogas system should be organised. Connecting actors early through joint planning and formulating case-by-case business models may help mediate any conflicts of interest.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-025-00524-0","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143944192","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}