energies Article Analysis of the Energy Consumption Behavior of European RES Cooperative Members Nikolaos Sifakis 1 , Nikolaos Savvakis 1 , Tryfon Daras 2 and Theocharis Tsoutsos 1, * 1 Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems Lab, School of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Kounoupidiana Campus, 73100 Chania, Greece; nsifakis.env@gmail.com (N.S.); nsavvakis87@gmail.com (N.S.) 2 School of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Kounoupidiana Campus, 73100 Chania, Greece; tryfondaras@gmail.com * Correspondence: theocharis.tsoutsos@enveng.tuc.gr; Tel.: +30-28210-37825 Received: 19 January 2019; Accepted: 8 March 2019; Published: 13 March 2019   Abstract: REScoops are cooperatives of renewable energy producers and/or consumers that are being formed in the developing European Smart Grid. Today, there are more than 2397 REScoops with more than 650,000 members. Their development indicates the necessity of producing and consuming green energy, assists the fight against energy poverty, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing smart management systems and self-consumption techniques. An essential objective of the H2020 REScoop Plus project is to stimulate better understanding and promote the cooperatives’ commitment to behavioral change. To achieve such a goal, this paper presents the methodology adopted to assess the energy-saving activities and behavior of the REScoops. In order to obtain relevant conclusions, a detailed statistical analysis was undertaken. Moreover, the analysis led to an effective classification of the various members, providing insights regarding their contribution to consumption reduction according to various specific characteristics. The statistical analysis showed that REScoop members contribute significantly to energy conservation and the reduction of harmful gas emissions, and subsequently, the majority of the energy efficiency (EE) interventions led to achieving more than 20% reductions. Specific practices, already adopted by the REScoops, lead to increased energy efficiency and environmental benefits. Keywords: REScoops; EE interventions; actual consumption reduction; renewable energy cooperatives; performance analysis 1. Introduction Global energy demand has risen to an unprecedented degree over the past century. Almost three-quarters of the energy consumed worldwide rely on fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels is a major contributor to the climate change negatively impacting humankind. In a European context, the term fuel poverty has become to define households not able to heat their houses sufficiently due to the high cost [1]. With the increasing pollution of the biosphere, the development of renewable energy (RE) has become a major societal challenge. Though increasing the share of RE is high on the policy agenda, the general public had been slow to adopt it [2] since the formation of REScoops. On the other hand, one of the most noteworthy parts of the existing energy market is the European renewable energy sources cooperatives (REScoops) [3]. This definition has been adopted from the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) Statement on Cooperative Identity 1995, thus it represents 1 billion members of cooperatives worldwide. Cooperatives have a number of competitive benefits in producing, providing and distributing energy. They are often community-based organizations, and consequently, they deliver democratic local control over energy issues. They can also negotiate Energies 2019, 12, 970; doi:10.3390/en12060970 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies