Eco-Welfare Tools: Renewable Energy Communities

To complete the analytical interplay between eco-welfare and energy, the focus shifts to Renewable Energy Communities (RECs), identified as key drivers for a low-carbon energy transition which enables a transformation of the socio-technical energy system leveraging on principles of co-production, sharing and consumption of renewable energy. This chapter is focused on RECs with a discussion on their implementation in the European framework and in the Italian context, unfolding potentialities and complexities behind their development, by also addressing their possible capacity to tackle energy poverty.