Role of communities in the energy transition: Within the context of an energy transition to a low carbon economy, new roles for local communities are emerging, whereby they are transitioned from being passive consumers to active prosumers with the possibility of local generation, demand response and energy efficiency measures. The energy transition will require significant mainstreaming of niche social and technical innovations to succeed at the community level, for example electric vehicles, heat pumps, smart meters, sustainable energy communities, domestic PV, and battery storage.