Sumários

Student final work presentations

16 Dezembro 2024, 13:00 • Ines Campos

In this final class, students presented their final work proposals to be submitted by January 12. 

All students received specific feedback on their work so far and suggestions for improvement. 

Participation and citizens' co-ownership in the case of wind energy

9 Dezembro 2024, 13:00 • Ines Campos

This class focussed on the specific case of wind energy (onshore and offshore) to discuss the different options and targets for decarbonisation with attention to how distributive, procedural and recognition justice can be upheld. Following an overview of the European context, the class focused on the Portuguese case to explicitly discuss how Portugal compares with other EU countries in energy justice metrics, to then explore specifically how local community participation (e.g., through co-financing and co-ownership of installations) could be improved. Furthermore, the class included a participatory experiment with an 'energy justice compass', which enabled students to assess diverse energy justice indicators for the Portuguese case and discuss these results. The class also had an invited guest presenter - Filipe Alves - who presented the energy justice compass and guided the participatory exercise. 

In addition, one student who could not be present in the last class presented her work proposal for the final assignment. 

Renewable energy communities and demand response

2 Dezembro 2024, 13:00 • Ines Campos

This class continued exploring the concept of renewable energy communities and key challenges for their implementation, replication and upscaling in ways that can support significant advancements for the energy transition. The class had a specific focus in discussing the key challenges and opportunities for demand response in this context, drawing on use cases, presented by a guest presenter - Guilherme Pontes Luz. Different alternatives for demand-response systems, considering who controls users' data, and how algorithms are designed and adopted were discussed, with attention to energy democracy and energy justice aspects. 

Renewable energy communities

25 Novembro 2024, 13:00 • Ines Campos

This class focused on the European concept of renewable energy communities, with an elaboration on what the concept means, what are the key requirements for implementing energy communities, considering opportunities and barriers, while focussing on specific examples from Portugal. The class had an invited guest presenter - Miguel Sequeira - who presented the Telheiras Energy Community, which he has helped develop. 

The class also focused on hard-to-reach citizens and communities in the context of the energy transition and the different types of social groups who present challenges for low-carbon but also for more inclusive energy systems. 

Energy transition and local communities in rural areas

18 Novembro 2024, 13:00 • Ines Campos

With the guest presentation of Kaya Schwemmlein on the case of Alentejo and the energy developments in the region (i.e., large-scale solar farms), the class discussed the differences between rural and urban regions regarding how energy transition developments take place, considering unequal distributions of costs and benefits, land use, and impacts on local rural communities.