Improving Eco-social Literacy Using Spanish Media Coverage of the EU’s Clean Energy Strategy

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goals represent a collective effort to achieve a better future for the world. Specifically, a clean energy transition requires eco-social literacy to improve in relation to Sustainable Development Goal 7: to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Thus, it seems appropriate to clearly identify the key concepts that everyone should know in order to efficiently make the clean energy transition. The method employed in this study to introduce citizens to the topic has drawn on Spanish press coverage on clean energy over the last two years. MyNews data base, a digital archive of modern printed press in Spain, has provided us with access to 66 different journals to identify ‘clean energy key words’, and the information obtained has been cross-referenced with BBC web page information, the New York Post, Washington Post and various European Union and International Energy Agency reports, among others. Thus, it has been possible to observe how the European Union’s (EU) is leader on environmental, technological, investment and employment actions on clean energy transition. The two key questions to collect main concepts from the press have been: has the socio-economic effort been sufficient? And: what are the main challenges for a clean energy transition? The response has included reference to the latest EU regulations and the relevant emerging debates and controversies. The main themes that the press have addressed included the problem of renewable energy storage, how to obtain energy from what used to be waste (such as poultry manure or brine from the desalination of seawater), how to favour the circular economy, and other experimental initiatives, such as biopropane production and decarbonization in the tertiary sector (tourism and transport). This paper also asks whether clean energy can be a good option for decarbonization in the context of growing energy poverty. Taken together, this information made it possible to pin down the main concepts required to train citizens in eco-social literacy and to weigh up its pros and cons in an informed way.