This book draws on social science analysis to understand the ongoing dynamics within and surrounding local energy communities in reliably electrified countries.It describes how energy communities have emerged and how local renewable energy trading schemes have been set up in Belgium, Canada, Columbia, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Analysing the main types of energy communities such as collective self-consumption, citizen cooperatives and peer-to-peer digital platforms, the book offers a comprehensive overview for all those contributing to the circular economy and the decentralization of energy production in inhabited areas. By revealing the contradictions between different stakes and between different spatial scales, as well as the antagonism between a market approach and a cooperative approach, it raises the essential questions of a non-centralized energy transition and provides keys for rethinking energy systems to the point of proposing new decision support tools. Contributors: Marie-France Agnoletti, Amélie Artis, Justine Ballon, Sylvie Blangy, Eric Brangier, Thomas Cortade, Gilles Debizet, Christine Dede, Émilie Dias, Jaume Fitó, Thibaut Fonteneau, Armelle Gomez, Anna Gorbacheva, Monika Heyder, Sacha Hodencq, Dorian Litvine, Blanche Lormeteau, Rémi Maître, Antoine Martin, Lou Morriet, Marta Pappalardo, Aude Pottier, Jean-Christophe Poudou, Myriam Proulx, Inès Ramirez-Cobo, Julien Ramousse, Hugo Schönbeck, Alexandra Schneiders Silvère Tribout, Benjamin Tyl, Sophie Van Neste and Frédéric Wurtz As well as being of interest to postgraduates and researchers in the field of energy studies, this book will be vital to energy professionals looking to support local energy communities’ decision-making and design, who wish to consider sociological, organizational and territorial dimensions.