Project Details
Description
The COMET LAB (Community Energy Transitions Lab) is a transdisciplinary co-creation platform based at Roskilde University’s Department of People and Technology.
COMET LAB works closely with and builds on the competencies of practitioners in the field like community energy groups, SMEs, and local authorities, as well as Roskilde University’s MOSPUS and TRANSITIONS research groups. The lab will also facilitate students’ learning, e.g., through cooperation and workshops with different stakeholders.
On the one hand, the accelerating roll-out of clean energy infrastructure like solar and wind farms or district heating networks has led to an increased interest in questions of community acceptance, engagement, and participation in energy projects. Conflicts and protests over the location of such projects seriously affect their deployment and the speed and scope of energy transitions, and thus aggravate the climate crisis.
On the other hand, there is a large, underdeveloped potential in community-based, modular, and scalable, clean energy solutions that promote sustainable local economic development, cut down energy consumer prices, balancing energy demand and supply in view of local grid constraints, and foster solidarity and energy literacy. Such locally rooted alternatives to traditional investor-driven or State-led energy projects are broadly known as community energy and have diverse forms of organization such as cooperatives, energy communities or municipal companies.
The mission of COMET LAB is to provide, test and evaluate research-based actionable solutions to the emerging community energy landscape. Solutions that are co-created and tested with stakeholders such as community and housing organizations, local and regional authorities, innovators, and SMEs in the energy sector. COMET LAB has a focus on problems such as lack of local acceptance, energy poverty, and the need to strengthen energy resilience in the face of multiple societal crises and uncertainties. COMET LAB strives to identify and solve key challenges in enhancing the role of communities in the energy transition, for example, improving interfaces between local government, community groups, and SME’s, capacity building regarding new technologies in infrastructure and ICT, financial instruments, and regulatory frameworks.
COMET LAB builds on accumulated competencies at Roskilde University's MOSPUS and TRANSITIONS research groups in putting social science to work for the benefit of people, communities and municipalities who are at the frontline of sustainable transitions.
COMET LAB welcomes as co-creators, individuals and organizations interested in advancing citizen-centered clean energy transitions. We are happy to receive The National Association for Energy Communities in Denmark (Energifællesskaber Danmark) as the first member of the LAB and encourage others to join.
COMET LAB working group is Professor John Andersen, Associate Professor Simon Bolwig, Associate Professor Maja de Neergaard, Associate Professor Thomas Skou Grindsted, External Lecturer and PhD Fellow Ulrik Kohl.
COMET LAB works closely with and builds on the competencies of practitioners in the field like community energy groups, SMEs, and local authorities, as well as Roskilde University’s MOSPUS and TRANSITIONS research groups. The lab will also facilitate students’ learning, e.g., through cooperation and workshops with different stakeholders.
On the one hand, the accelerating roll-out of clean energy infrastructure like solar and wind farms or district heating networks has led to an increased interest in questions of community acceptance, engagement, and participation in energy projects. Conflicts and protests over the location of such projects seriously affect their deployment and the speed and scope of energy transitions, and thus aggravate the climate crisis.
On the other hand, there is a large, underdeveloped potential in community-based, modular, and scalable, clean energy solutions that promote sustainable local economic development, cut down energy consumer prices, balancing energy demand and supply in view of local grid constraints, and foster solidarity and energy literacy. Such locally rooted alternatives to traditional investor-driven or State-led energy projects are broadly known as community energy and have diverse forms of organization such as cooperatives, energy communities or municipal companies.
The mission of COMET LAB is to provide, test and evaluate research-based actionable solutions to the emerging community energy landscape. Solutions that are co-created and tested with stakeholders such as community and housing organizations, local and regional authorities, innovators, and SMEs in the energy sector. COMET LAB has a focus on problems such as lack of local acceptance, energy poverty, and the need to strengthen energy resilience in the face of multiple societal crises and uncertainties. COMET LAB strives to identify and solve key challenges in enhancing the role of communities in the energy transition, for example, improving interfaces between local government, community groups, and SME’s, capacity building regarding new technologies in infrastructure and ICT, financial instruments, and regulatory frameworks.
COMET LAB builds on accumulated competencies at Roskilde University's MOSPUS and TRANSITIONS research groups in putting social science to work for the benefit of people, communities and municipalities who are at the frontline of sustainable transitions.
COMET LAB welcomes as co-creators, individuals and organizations interested in advancing citizen-centered clean energy transitions. We are happy to receive The National Association for Energy Communities in Denmark (Energifællesskaber Danmark) as the first member of the LAB and encourage others to join.
COMET LAB working group is Professor John Andersen, Associate Professor Simon Bolwig, Associate Professor Maja de Neergaard, Associate Professor Thomas Skou Grindsted, External Lecturer and PhD Fellow Ulrik Kohl.
| Status | Active |
|---|---|
| Effective start/end date | 01/12/2023 → … |
Collaborative partners
- Roskilde University (lead)
- Energifællesskaber Danmark - The National Association for Energy Communities in Denmark
UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This project contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Keywords
- Community energy
- Energy democracy
- Urban planning
- regional development