Assessing energy sustainability of rural communities using Principal Component Analysis

Engaging communities to action under the new climate change regime and fostering citizens to adopt sustainable energy patterns, remains still a challenge. A new impetus for commitment was put in place for local regions, through the Covenant of Mayors (CoM) initiative by the EU communities. The key challenge is the penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES). since most runt communities have vast unexploited RES potential (solar, wind, biomass, etc.). RES promotion could also specifically support rural communities' challenges as regards growth, jobs and sustainability, which a re also aggravated by the current financial and economic crisis. One of the most significant steps throughout participating in this initiative is the evaluation of the community's sustainable energy status. Aim of this paper is to assess rural communities' energy sustainability using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), based on the outputs of two European Intelligent Energy For Europe projects on the following regions: Mountainous and Agricultural Communities and Islands. Appropriate customization of the PCA will be elaborated, to aggregate sustainability indicators, capture related interactions and interdependences. The results of this study can support the monitoring of such communities' progress, which is an especially valuable parameter as concerns the development and mainly implementation of their Sustainable Energy Action Plans. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.