Thesis defended by Clémence Bourcet, Université Sorbonne Paris-Nord – Paris XIII, on November 27th 2020.
In the context of mitigation actions in the energy sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy (RE) sources appear as relevant solutions. They can be used for electricity production, in the heating and cooling, and the transport sectors. However, these low-carbon sources have only developed slowly and significant differences exist between countries.
In this thesis, I first explore the empirical determinants of RE sources deployment by systematically reviewing the existing quantitative country-level literature on this topic. I find that this strand of literature is quite fragmented and analyze the authors’ results based on the framework considered to investigate
the existence of a consensus on possible determinants of RE development at a country level.
To complement this multi-country approach, I focus on two significant barriers that have been found to hinder a wide spread use of RE sources: financing and acceptance. More specifically, I look at the RE crowdfunding sector. Indeed, crowdfunding is an innovative financing tool that enables the participation of citizens in the funding of RE projects, thus involving them in the energy transition process towards low-carbon sources. In particular, I focus on the French RE crowdfunding sector because it has experienced a strong growth in the context of a favorable regulatory environment. I conduct a case study of a French crowdfunding platform specialized in RE projects to better understand its business model and the risks associated with it. Then, to shed some light on the characteristics of the sector, I give an overview of the different actors that are involved in the French RE crowdfunding sector: platforms, project promoters, and contributors. Finally, I carry out an empirical analysis of survey data regarding
the decision-making process of French citizens that have invested in RE crowdfunding projects.
Thesis director: Sandra Rigot, Research Associate.
Clémence Bourcet was associated with the Chair throughout the duration of her thesis (2017-2020). See her other articles:
Empirical determinants of renewable energy deployment: A systematic literature review
Le financement participatif de projets d’énergies renouvelables (EnR) : éclairages sur le modèle économique et les risques d’une plateforme française
