Pub Date : 2024-10-24DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103809
Nynke van Uffelen
Analysing energy conflicts is crucial to realise a successful and just energy transition. In doing so, it is insufficient to understand energy conflicts as epistemic disagreements about risk analyses and safety, as people often voice moral concerns beyond epistemic debates. To analyse grievances of social movements and citizens in energy conflicts, scholars often adopt a tenet-based energy justice framework that distinguishes between distributive, procedural, recognition and restorative justice. However, categorising claims into tenets does not shed light on disagreements within the tenets. As such, the existing conceptual toolkit is insufficient to understand the core of energy justice conflicts. This article proposes to shift focus towards capturing different conceptions of justice. This approach is illustrated by a qualitative analysis of the controversy around underground gas storage Grijpskerk and Norg in the Netherlands. The results show that the conflict is constituted by competing conceptions of restorative justice. The institutionalisation of one conception delegitimises and hides certain justice concerns and reduces the conflict to an epistemic dispute, which leads to misrecognition and possibly to the escalation of the conflict.
{"title":"Understanding energy conflicts: From epistemic disputes to competing conceptions of justice","authors":"Nynke van Uffelen","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103809","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103809","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Analysing energy conflicts is crucial to realise a successful and just energy transition. In doing so, it is insufficient to understand energy conflicts as epistemic disagreements about risk analyses and safety, as people often voice moral concerns beyond epistemic debates. To analyse grievances of social movements and citizens in energy conflicts, scholars often adopt a tenet-based energy justice framework that distinguishes between distributive, procedural, recognition and restorative justice. However, categorising claims into tenets does not shed light on disagreements within the tenets. As such, the existing conceptual toolkit is insufficient to understand the core of energy justice conflicts. This article proposes to shift focus towards capturing different conceptions of justice. This approach is illustrated by a qualitative analysis of the controversy around underground gas storage Grijpskerk and Norg in the Netherlands. The results show that the conflict is constituted by competing conceptions of restorative justice. The institutionalisation of one conception delegitimises and hides certain justice concerns and reduces the conflict to an epistemic dispute, which leads to misrecognition and possibly to the escalation of the conflict.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103809"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142530687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-24DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103804
Samuel Eberenz , Irina Dallo , Michèle Marti , Viola Becattini , Matthias Holenstein , Stefan Wiemer , Marco Mazzotti
A successful implementation of Carbon Capture, Transportation, Utilization, and Storage (CCTS/CCUS) projects depends on proactively communicating to and engaging with the public and relevant stakeholders. Based on our research in the framework of a pilot project demonstrating two complementary CCTS/CCUS pathways for Switzerland, we underpin this importance and present and exemplify nine recommendations for communication and stakeholder engagements. In a nutshell, ongoing stakeholder engagement and tailored public communication are crucial to address evolving information needs. We recommend providing clear examples, involve relevant stakeholders early, and adapt strategies dynamically to build capacities for evidence-based decisions regarding CCTS/CCUS pathways. For a differentiated public debate, presenting CCTS/CCUS pathways as complementary to broader climate strategies and renewable energy adoption is key.
{"title":"Nine recommendations for engaging with the public and stakeholders for Carbon Capture, Transportation, Utilization, and Storage","authors":"Samuel Eberenz , Irina Dallo , Michèle Marti , Viola Becattini , Matthias Holenstein , Stefan Wiemer , Marco Mazzotti","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103804","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103804","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A successful implementation of Carbon Capture, Transportation, Utilization, and Storage (CCTS/CCUS) projects depends on proactively communicating to and engaging with the public and relevant stakeholders. Based on our research in the framework of a pilot project demonstrating two complementary CCTS/CCUS pathways for Switzerland, we underpin this importance and present and exemplify nine recommendations for communication and stakeholder engagements. In a nutshell, ongoing stakeholder engagement and tailored public communication are crucial to address evolving information needs. We recommend providing clear examples, involve relevant stakeholders early, and adapt strategies dynamically to build capacities for evidence-based decisions regarding CCTS/CCUS pathways. For a differentiated public debate, presenting CCTS/CCUS pathways as complementary to broader climate strategies and renewable energy adoption is key.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103804"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142530686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-24DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103801
Mathias Lanezki , Maren Wesselow , Antonieta Alcorta de Bronstein , Ernst Schäfer , Frederic Urbschat , Julia Ingensiep , Jessica Foppe , Jan-Henrik Bruhn
There is a need to further develop digital and hardware tools to support consumers in the adaptation of their energy use to, for example, integrate renewable sources into it and/or reduce expenses. This paper presents an evaluation study of a tool, including its hardware and software versions, that supports consumers in their electricity consumption optimization, most notably concerning renewable energies for specific devices. We conducted a six-week study in Oldenburg, Germany involving 43 participants divided into three groups: one hardware and one digital variant each of an energy visualization tool, as well as a control group. We furthermore collected quantitative data on energy usage patterns and qualitative insights through semi-structured interviews. Here the participants received information about the percentage of renewable energy currently in the grid, and were asked to document their washing machine and dishwasher use. This paper provides insights into the perception of the proposed visualization tools achieved through semi-structured interviews, comparing the digital and hardware versions, while outlining the challenges of and possibilities for changing energy use behavior, especially regarding the time of day of an appliance's use. Even though the measurable influences of the tool were limited due to thresholds being reached too easily as a result of e.g. high wind levels generating higher-than-anticipated amounts of renewable energy, in terms of the amount of renewable energy use, slight improvements in the two test groups were observed compared to the control group. Regarding consumer behavior, changes in the appliances' use time show slightly higher improvement compared to the control group.
{"title":"Green means go: The effect of a visualization tool towards increased use of renewable energy in households","authors":"Mathias Lanezki , Maren Wesselow , Antonieta Alcorta de Bronstein , Ernst Schäfer , Frederic Urbschat , Julia Ingensiep , Jessica Foppe , Jan-Henrik Bruhn","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103801","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103801","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is a need to further develop digital and hardware tools to support consumers in the adaptation of their energy use to, for example, integrate renewable sources into it and/or reduce expenses. This paper presents an evaluation study of a tool, including its hardware and software versions, that supports consumers in their electricity consumption optimization, most notably concerning renewable energies for specific devices. We conducted a six-week study in Oldenburg, Germany involving 43 participants divided into three groups: one hardware and one digital variant each of an energy visualization tool, as well as a control group. We furthermore collected quantitative data on energy usage patterns and qualitative insights through semi-structured interviews. Here the participants received information about the percentage of renewable energy currently in the grid, and were asked to document their washing machine and dishwasher use. This paper provides insights into the perception of the proposed visualization tools achieved through semi-structured interviews, comparing the digital and hardware versions, while outlining the challenges of and possibilities for changing energy use behavior, especially regarding the time of day of an appliance's use. Even though the measurable influences of the tool were limited due to thresholds being reached too easily as a result of e.g. high wind levels generating higher-than-anticipated amounts of renewable energy, in terms of the amount of renewable energy use, slight improvements in the two test groups were observed compared to the control group. Regarding consumer behavior, changes in the appliances' use time show slightly higher improvement compared to the control group.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103801"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142530694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-24DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103792
Hernan Felipe Trujillo Quintero , Jhon Jairo Losada Cubillos
This study critically examines the socio-environmental conflict surrounding the Churimo Small Hydropower Station (SHPS) in Antioquia, Colombia, within the context of the region's armed conflict legacy. The Churimo project, while contributing to Colombia's renewable energy goals, has faced intense resistance from local communities due to ecological, cultural, and socio-political concerns. Utilizing an energy justice framework, we conducted in-depth interviews, analyzed public hearing records, and reviewed media coverage to uncover the multidimensional factors fueling opposition. The findings highlight six primary drivers of resistance: ecological impacts on the Churimo River, procedural injustices in stakeholder engagement, informational transparency deficits, adverse effects on local tourism, historical grievances related to hydropower development, and unresolved land restitution issues exacerbated by the region's violent past. The study reveals how these factors, compounded by a history of armed conflict, have intensified opposition and hindered the project's social legitimacy. We argue that achieving a just energy transition in Colombia requires addressing both the immediate and historical injustices faced by affected communities, ensuring that energy projects do not perpetuate existing vulnerabilities.
{"title":"Conflict and resistance: Unveiling the hidden costs of small hydropower in an armed conflict-affected region of Antioquia, Colombia","authors":"Hernan Felipe Trujillo Quintero , Jhon Jairo Losada Cubillos","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103792","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103792","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study critically examines the socio-environmental conflict surrounding the Churimo Small Hydropower Station (SHPS) in Antioquia, Colombia, within the context of the region's armed conflict legacy. The Churimo project, while contributing to Colombia's renewable energy goals, has faced intense resistance from local communities due to ecological, cultural, and socio-political concerns. Utilizing an energy justice framework, we conducted in-depth interviews, analyzed public hearing records, and reviewed media coverage to uncover the multidimensional factors fueling opposition. The findings highlight six primary drivers of resistance: ecological impacts on the Churimo River, procedural injustices in stakeholder engagement, informational transparency deficits, adverse effects on local tourism, historical grievances related to hydropower development, and unresolved land restitution issues exacerbated by the region's violent past. The study reveals how these factors, compounded by a history of armed conflict, have intensified opposition and hindered the project's social legitimacy. We argue that achieving a just energy transition in Colombia requires addressing both the immediate and historical injustices faced by affected communities, ensuring that energy projects do not perpetuate existing vulnerabilities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103792"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142530631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
With the RePowerEU plan the European Commission aims to boost biomethane production as part of its strategy for energy independence. Biomethane from manure is commonly considered as a circular solution that produces renewable energy, manages waste and reduces emissions. However, the intertwining of biomethane production with the livestock sector, one of the most impactful sectors in the EU and globally, is highly controversial, yet rarely discussed. In this Policy Perspective we argue how the reliance on manure as primary feedstock for biomethane is extending the EU's lock-in into unsustainable, business-as-usual livestock farming practices, replacing a natural gas dependency with an animal feed dependency from other continents, jeopardizing EU's strategic autonomy, while perpetuating neocolonial forms of extractivism. We highlight that such mechanisms are reinforced by blind spots in the Renewable Energy Directive emissions accounting standards which have overlooked the upstream impacts of biomethane production from manure, especially the ones in the Global South, obscuring the link between energy and food systems. These gaps contribute to rebound effects in indirect land use change and on-farm emissions, hindering environmental targets. Recommendations are provided to stimulate a critical discussion in which commonly held assumptions and narratives on biomethane production from manure are challenged.
{"title":"Biomethane from manure in the RePowerEU: A critical perspective on the scale-up of renewable energy production from the livestock sector","authors":"Francesca Magnolo , Jeroen Candel , Stijn Speelman","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103793","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103793","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the RePowerEU plan the European Commission aims to boost biomethane production as part of its strategy for energy independence. Biomethane from manure is commonly considered as a circular solution that produces renewable energy, manages waste and reduces emissions. However, the intertwining of biomethane production with the livestock sector, one of the most impactful sectors in the EU and globally, is highly controversial, yet rarely discussed. In this Policy Perspective we argue how the reliance on manure as primary feedstock for biomethane is extending the EU's lock-in into unsustainable, business-as-usual livestock farming practices, replacing a natural gas dependency with an animal feed dependency from other continents, jeopardizing EU's strategic autonomy, while perpetuating neocolonial forms of extractivism. We highlight that such mechanisms are reinforced by blind spots in the Renewable Energy Directive emissions accounting standards which have overlooked the upstream impacts of biomethane production from manure, especially the ones in the Global South, obscuring the link between energy and food systems. These gaps contribute to rebound effects in indirect land use change and on-farm emissions, hindering environmental targets. Recommendations are provided to stimulate a critical discussion in which commonly held assumptions and narratives on biomethane production from manure are challenged.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103793"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142530689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-23DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103803
Richard Hoggett , Richard Lowes , Carlos E. Ugalde-Loo , Fatemeh Khosravi
Under the current climate, overheating is already a problem in UK homes, causing discomfort, ill health, and mortality. As temperatures continue to increase due to climate change, the problem will worsen. Cooling offers a solution and its use in the domestic sector is expected to grow, but active cooling technologies can create emissions which contribute to climate change and can have wider social impacts. Policy needs to be developed to protect people from heat risks, whilst limiting the impacts from any cooling. These are emerging research and policy areas within the UK and other temperate countries, and this paper explores these challenges and opportunities using an avoid-improve-shift cooling decarbonisation framework, through semi-structured interviews with 74 policy actors. The results show the main challenge is the existing stock, that the market for domestic cooling is immature, and there are opportunities to support the adoption of passive measures, improve cooling products, and manage cooling within the energy system. Overall, the paper highlights the need for action to create homes that are fit for the future through the development of a balanced, integrated cooling policy. This can be achieved by acting quickly and comprehensively; seeking synergies with wider energy policies; supporting people to take low-carbon, climate resilient behaviours; making use of best practice; and through effective leadership.
{"title":"Hot and cold: Policy perspectives on overheating and cooling in United Kingdom homes","authors":"Richard Hoggett , Richard Lowes , Carlos E. Ugalde-Loo , Fatemeh Khosravi","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103803","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103803","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Under the current climate, overheating is already a problem in UK homes, causing discomfort, ill health, and mortality. As temperatures continue to increase due to climate change, the problem will worsen. Cooling offers a solution and its use in the domestic sector is expected to grow, but active cooling technologies can create emissions which contribute to climate change and can have wider social impacts. Policy needs to be developed to protect people from heat risks, whilst limiting the impacts from any cooling. These are emerging research and policy areas within the UK and other temperate countries, and this paper explores these challenges and opportunities using an avoid-improve-shift cooling decarbonisation framework, through semi-structured interviews with 74 policy actors. The results show the main challenge is the existing stock, that the market for domestic cooling is immature, and there are opportunities to support the adoption of passive measures, improve cooling products, and manage cooling within the energy system. Overall, the paper highlights the need for action to create homes that are fit for the future through the development of a balanced, integrated cooling policy. This can be achieved by acting quickly and comprehensively; seeking synergies with wider energy policies; supporting people to take low-carbon, climate resilient behaviours; making use of best practice; and through effective leadership.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103803"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142530693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-23DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103805
Siddharth Sareen , Alexander Dodge , Charlotte Nakakaawa-Jjunju , Benon Nabaasa
There is great hope pinned on solar mini-grids to fulfil universal rural electrification targets and enable clean energy access, especially in low-income African countries such as Uganda. Yet Ugandan realities are complex, with many unelectrified households in villages the electric grid serves, and varied experiences with the few solar mini-grids implemented in recent years, indicating limited downward accountability. Crucially, large solar plants have arrived, making it timely to resolve the dilemma of just clean energy provision both in and from rural areas. Yet little research on energy transitions in this context exists to explain its political economic complexity. We draw on field visits to three solar mini-grids with contrasting performances, to Uganda's largest 20 MW solar plant, through dozens of villages, and on meetings with the regional utility and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. This is supplemented by knowledge of Uganda's energy policy through document analysis and lived experience. We adapt accountability analysis to deploy a novel ‘scales of accountability’ framework at multiple spatial scales of solar deployment. Our analysis offers insights on the challenges Uganda must address to achieve the potential associated with solar mini-grids and multi-scalar solar energy transitions to achieve universal clean energy access.
{"title":"Scales of accountability: Solar mini-grids and clean energy for all in Uganda","authors":"Siddharth Sareen , Alexander Dodge , Charlotte Nakakaawa-Jjunju , Benon Nabaasa","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103805","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103805","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is great hope pinned on solar mini-grids to fulfil universal rural electrification targets and enable clean energy access, especially in low-income African countries such as Uganda. Yet Ugandan realities are complex, with many unelectrified households in villages the electric grid serves, and varied experiences with the few solar mini-grids implemented in recent years, indicating limited downward accountability. Crucially, large solar plants have arrived, making it timely to resolve the dilemma of just clean energy provision both in and from rural areas. Yet little research on energy transitions in this context exists to explain its political economic complexity. We draw on field visits to three solar mini-grids with contrasting performances, to Uganda's largest 20 MW solar plant, through dozens of villages, and on meetings with the regional utility and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. This is supplemented by knowledge of Uganda's energy policy through document analysis and lived experience. We adapt accountability analysis to deploy a novel ‘scales of accountability’ framework at multiple spatial scales of solar deployment. Our analysis offers insights on the challenges Uganda must address to achieve the potential associated with solar mini-grids and multi-scalar solar energy transitions to achieve universal clean energy access.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103805"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142530696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-21DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103799
Giulia M. Mininni , Timothy J. Foxon , Claire Copeland , Beatriz Aguirre Martinez , Donal Brown , Marie Claire Brisbois , Gerardo A. Torres Contreras , Siobhan Stack-Maddox , Max Lacey-Barnacle , Christian Jaccarini
Energy demand reduction options can make an important contribution to a Net Zero transition for climate change mitigation, and also offer multiple social, economic, and environmental ‘co-benefits’. However, these co-benefits are often insufficiently accounted for in policy making, which tends to focus on direct economic costs and benefits. Applying Multi Criteria Mapping and survey methods, the paper investigates how citizens in two UK regions value a range of energy demand reduction options in relation to indicators of wellbeing. This analysis shows that citizens place high value on a range of co-benefits of energy demand reduction options, whilst also valuing fairness including environmental intergenerational concerns and accepting the need for some restrictions on individuals' lifestyle choices. This provides support for recent analysis, based on evaluation of expert opinion, that demand-side mitigation measures are consistent with high levels of citizens' wellbeing, and suggests that energy policy assessment needs to take these co-benefits into account in decision-making processes. This is consistent with moving towards a wider ‘wellbeing economy’ approach, compared to a narrower assessment based only on economic costs and benefits.
{"title":"Increasing wellbeing through energy demand reduction for net zero: Citizen perceptions of co-benefits of local measures","authors":"Giulia M. Mininni , Timothy J. Foxon , Claire Copeland , Beatriz Aguirre Martinez , Donal Brown , Marie Claire Brisbois , Gerardo A. Torres Contreras , Siobhan Stack-Maddox , Max Lacey-Barnacle , Christian Jaccarini","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103799","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103799","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Energy demand reduction options can make an important contribution to a Net Zero transition for climate change mitigation, and also offer multiple social, economic, and environmental ‘co-benefits’. However, these co-benefits are often insufficiently accounted for in policy making, which tends to focus on direct economic costs and benefits. Applying Multi Criteria Mapping and survey methods, the paper investigates how citizens in two UK regions value a range of energy demand reduction options in relation to indicators of wellbeing. This analysis shows that citizens place high value on a range of co-benefits of energy demand reduction options, whilst also valuing fairness including environmental intergenerational concerns and accepting the need for some restrictions on individuals' lifestyle choices. This provides support for recent analysis, based on evaluation of expert opinion, that demand-side mitigation measures are consistent with high levels of citizens' wellbeing, and suggests that energy policy assessment needs to take these co-benefits into account in decision-making processes. This is consistent with moving towards a wider ‘wellbeing economy’ approach, compared to a narrower assessment based only on economic costs and benefits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103799"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142530692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-21DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103794
Simon Moeller
Energy-savings from smart home technologies (SHT) are a topic of considerable debate: While proponents of SHT emphasise the potential to reduce heating energy consumption and facilitate energy flexibility, critics highlight real-world challenges and a lack of evidence of actual savings. This study provides insights into SHT's actual saving potential and reveals essential mechanisms of occupant-technology interaction.
Based on social practice theory, this paper explores how occupants integrate SHT into their everyday comfort practices. Furthermore, it assesses the resulting impacts on heating energy consumption and compares these interactions to those within conventional building settings. The interactions with a pilot SHT are evaluated in 137 apartments in two newly constructed multi-apartment buildings. For comparison, a survey of households in conventional buildings, which vary in age, size and heating demand, is analysed. The case study employs a mixed-methods approach, based on standardised surveys, house tours, and measurement data, including metered energy consumption and indoor temperatures.
The findings suggest that households in conventional German buildings have become accustomed to temperature variations within apartments. However, a preference for thermal variation appears to conflict with the dominant features of SHT, which, as this study implies, tend to produce more homogeneous indoor temperatures. The study identifies four distinct interaction patterns based on an in-depth analysis of heating comfort practices. These patterns vary in how well material settings align with comfort practices, ranging from low to high efficiency. The results indicate that SHT does not offer a ‘matching’ one-size-fits-all solution for residents' diverse needs and heating demands.
{"title":"Is it a match? Smart home energy management technologies and user comfort practices in German multi-apartment buildings","authors":"Simon Moeller","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103794","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103794","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Energy-savings from smart home technologies (SHT) are a topic of considerable debate: While proponents of SHT emphasise the potential to reduce heating energy consumption and facilitate energy flexibility, critics highlight real-world challenges and a lack of evidence of actual savings. This study provides insights into SHT's actual saving potential and reveals essential mechanisms of occupant-technology interaction.</div><div>Based on social practice theory, this paper explores how occupants integrate SHT into their everyday comfort practices. Furthermore, it assesses the resulting impacts on heating energy consumption and compares these interactions to those within conventional building settings. The interactions with a pilot SHT are evaluated in 137 apartments in two newly constructed multi-apartment buildings. For comparison, a survey of households in conventional buildings, which vary in age, size and heating demand, is analysed. The case study employs a mixed-methods approach, based on standardised surveys, house tours, and measurement data, including metered energy consumption and indoor temperatures.</div><div>The findings suggest that households in conventional German buildings have become accustomed to temperature variations within apartments. However, a preference for thermal variation appears to conflict with the dominant features of SHT, which, as this study implies, tend to produce more homogeneous indoor temperatures. The study identifies four distinct interaction patterns based on an in-depth analysis of heating comfort practices. These patterns vary in how well material settings align with comfort practices, ranging from low to high efficiency. The results indicate that SHT does not offer a ‘matching’ one-size-fits-all solution for residents' diverse needs and heating demands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103794"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142530690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-21DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103802
Anica Mertins , Jantje Halberstadt , Tim Wawer
In the biogas industry, there is growing interest in new business models focused on upgrading biogas to green gases, such as biomethane and biogenic hydrogen. Cooperation among various biogas plant operators by combining several plants would enable small plants to achieve the necessary amount of biogas to implement these upgrading approaches. A key aspect of cooperative business models is the interest and willingness of biogas plant operators to engage. We conduct a systematic literature review to identify the drivers and barriers influencing biogas plant operators' adoption of cooperative business models and validate it through twenty semi-structured interviews with biogas plant operators in Germany. We analyse the interviews using qualitative content analysis. Key drivers identified are synergy effects, such as the reduction of installation and operating costs or the shared use of information. Social drivers can be increasing motivation through cooperation or a greater willingness to take risks. Political framework conditions, such as financial support or simplified permitting processes, are relevant examples of positive framework conditions. The main barriers identified include scepticism and bad experiences with collaboration. Financial hurdles, such as uncertainty about revenue sharing or in relation to achievable revenues, can also represent an obstacle. The paper delivers an essential contribution by presenting actionable measures for fostering successful cooperation among biogas plant operators, tailored to each phase of collaboration based on comprehensive insights into their driving forces and impediments.
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