Energy Transition in Greece: A Regional and National Media Analysis

Nikolaos Koukouzas (), George S. Maraslidis (), Christos L. Stergiou, Theodoros Zarogiannis, Eleonora Manoukian, Julia Haske, Stefan Möllerherm and Barbara Rogosz
Additional contact information
Nikolaos Koukouzas: Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI), Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 15125 Athens, Greece
George S. Maraslidis: Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI), Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 50200 Ptolemaida, Greece
Christos L. Stergiou: Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI), Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 50200 Ptolemaida, Greece
Theodoros Zarogiannis: Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI), Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 15125 Athens, Greece
Eleonora Manoukian: Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI), Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 15125 Athens, Greece
Julia Haske: Research Center of Post-Mining, Technische Hochschule Georg Agricola, Herner Str. 45, 44787 Bochum, Germany
Stefan Möllerherm: Research Center of Post-Mining, Technische Hochschule Georg Agricola, Herner Str. 45, 44787 Bochum, Germany
Barbara Rogosz: “Poltegor Institute” Institute of Opencast Mining, Parkowa 25, 51-616 Wrocław, Poland

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-27

Abstract: Media coverage plays a pivotal role in shaping public perception of the energy transition. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of how the lignite phase-out is represented in Greece, both by national and regional media, with a specific focus on the impacted region of Western Macedonia. Using data from the Leipzig Corpora Collection and regional news portals from 2013 to 2022, the analysis reveals significant divergences between media levels. While both show synchronized peaks for key terms like “Climate change” (2019) and “Western Macedonia” (2021), regional media addressed the direct impacts of the transition earlier and more intensely, with terms like “post-lignite” and “de-lignification” peaking in 2020 following the announcement of the Master Plan. National media framed the transition within a broader, top-down policy context, often with an optimistic tone, reflecting EU directives. In contrast, regional media provided a community-centric perspective, highlighting concerns over job losses and the preservation of local identity. The findings underscore a clear tension between official narratives of progress and local-level concerns, demonstrating that media discourse is a critical, multi-faceted component of just transition processes that policymakers must consider.

Keywords: coal transition; de-lignitization; energy; public perception; mining; media analysis; western Macedonia; Greece (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/17/4595/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/17/4595/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:17:p:4595-:d:1737523

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Cassie Shen

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().