Place-based strategies for energy transitions in Apulia: Pilot experiences, limitations and prospects

The energy transition debate is often focused on the search for efficient so-lutions replacing fossil fuels with renewable resources in the name of the decarbonization imperative. Policies for ecological transition are thus main-ly informed by a technocratic and market-driven approach connected to eco-logical modernization, which may generate a new geography of social and territorial inequalities connected to resource grabbing processes at the local level. A radical change in the approach is thus needed, leading to the promo-tion of territorial strategies combining the development of the local energy potential with the enhancement of the patrimonial structure of the territory and the recovery of a proactive role for local actors. This paper tries to highlight potential and limitations of this turn by ana-lyzing the Apulian context, which shows, on the one hand, pervasive pro-cesses of land grabbing for the exploitation of renewable energy sources, while hosting, on the other hand, interesting experiences of local energy co-operation.