Energy Sustainability for Adriatic Small Communities

The ALTERENERGY Strategic Project aims to provide a significant contribution to the widely agreed objective of achieving a higher level of sustainability with regards to energy production and usage in the Adriatic area. This objective is strictly connected, as we all know, to creating a better environment and the protection of life and the natural environment. In pursuing this overall general objective, the proposed project follows a very specific vision: that of promoting energy sustainability in the small communities of the Adriatic area, through an integrated approach to the efficient use of energy and its production from renewable sources. The specific objective of ALTERENERGY is to develop replicable models for the sustainable management of energy resources in small Adriatic communities, improving their capacity to plan and manage integrated actions dealing with energy saving and energy production from renewable sources, through a participated approach that involves the citizens and the local economic operators. The main expected results are: - Improved and shared knowledge framework (available technologies and solutions, available sustainable communities’ good practices..). - A shared set of integrated sustainable energy management models and of related financial frameworks, suitable for the small communities of the Adriatic area. - Improved awareness of citizens and local economic operators (SMEs, professionals) about the opportunities and benefits related to energy efficiency and energy mix changeover and the diffusion of project results on a wide scale. - Improved capacity of local communities to plan, implement and manage energy saving and distributed energy production projects/actions. - Pilot projects and/or demonstrative actions of high replication potential implemented in selected target communities. - Good practices for the adaptation and replication of the pilot schemes in the Adriatic area, including financial schemes When we speak of “community” we refer to a wider concept than “city” including, besides the residential area, the industrial zone neighboring the city and the rural territory that surrounds it. Each of these three “systems” is in fact both an energy consumer and a potential renewable energy source. The main focus of ALTERENERGY is the optimal integration of these systems, allowing a higher degree of global energy sustainability at community level. In order to accomplish its objectives and produce the expected results, the project will implement the following activities: - Awareness raising campaigns to adopt a life style based on the rational use of energy and to promote energy sustainability in local communities. - Development of a common knowledge base concerning state of the art of energy saving and renewable energy production and consumption practices and technologies and the specific problems and constraints in the target areas. - Development of a common set of tools supporting the local communities in their energy planning and management activities (policy recommendations, technical guidelines, financial schemes, training schemes, etc.) - In depth analysis of the global energy balance in selected target communities and development of an integrated energy sustainability plan for each of these communities, through a process involving the local population and the relevant stakeholders. - Business meetings, business development support actions, dedicated seminars and capacity building workshops for SMEs operating in the energy field. - Realization of a feasibility study in each target community, dealing with specific actions targeted towards energy saving and/or renewable energy production. - Implementation of a limited number of pilot projects and demonstrative actions, selected in order to maximize their potential impact as reference models for the whole Adriatic area and beyond.