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Planning the required energy infrastructure for the energy transition is a crucial task for various neighbourhood concepts, such as positive energy districts. However, energy planning often comes with the challenges of data shortages and a lack of comparability among solutions for different districts. This work aims to enable this comparability by introducing an approach for categorising districts according to parameters that are relevant for the planning of neighbourhood energy infrastructures. Four parameters (climate, floor space index, heating demand and share of residential buildings) and their respective ranges (bands) were derived from the literature. Additionally, this work visualised the combination of all parameter bands across Europe to conveniently showcase districts that are comparable according to the selected parameters. This approach and its visualisation could be used in urban planning to share knowledge from existing energy district projects with those planned in comparable districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates the determinants of differences between public preferences for energy sources and the actual country-level energy mix ("dissatisfaction"). Nineteen European countries have been examined, drawing on data from the 2016 European Social Survey. The main findings are that trusting individuals express lower dissatisfaction with the share of renewable energy sources and greater dissatisfaction with the share of fossil fuels and nuclear power; and individuals who are worried about energy security expressed an inflated preference for programmable energy sources (e.g. fossil fuels and nuclear power). The implications of the findings and the importance of public energy preferences for shaping policy views are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]