Juxtaposing old and new technology!
Steve Francis, board member of the Ferréole Cooperative Belgium, on how his local community founded a citizen’s cooperative to complement the local water wheel with a hydro turbine to generate and distribute electricity for the local communes. Next to boosting rural development the Ferréole cooperative also promotes democratic structures, as every project is subject to a voting procedure.
Rescoop EU
Dirk Vansintjan, Secretary General of Ecopower in Belgium, tells the story of his local energy cooperative founded in 1991, which first renovated a local water turbine and then fought for the feed-in tariff to be introduced in Belgium. Today Ecopower has 50.000 members and is therefore in membership the biggest energy cooperative in Europe.
Renewables are gaining ground!
Alexandra Sombsthay, expert in renewable energy, explains that despite a progressive step forward in EU legislation on renewable energy in the early 2000s the recurring trend of intergovernmentalism of EU member states stalls not only the necessary reforms of the European electricity market but also thwarts energy cooperatives which have been powerful change makers and lobbyist in favor of renewable energies.