Energy and good living: decentralized energy production alternatives

Abstract

This brief article tries to relate the principles of good living as a paradigm that enters the international debate starting from the 2008 Constitutions of Ecuador and Bolivia, with the theme of energy production. An analysis of the Ibero-American energy context is carried out, focused in particular on the cases of Spain and Ecuador, in order to understand how the enormous differences, present in the management of energy in Latin America, do not escape the logic of hegemonic centralization, both in production as in distribution, controlled by large public or private companies, together with State supervision. The idea is held that the principles of Good Living require the formation of citizens and suitable technologies so that they themselves are capable of producing and maintaining their energy production in operation, as is already happening in many European energy cooperatives. The objective of this brief article is to question the same logic of energy production, since the centralized or decentralized way of production of energy directly determines the productive matrix of society as a whole. The thesis is held that the transition towards decentralized energy production constitutes the first step for substantial direct changes towards achieving effectively sustainable economies.