The social dynamics of smart grids : On households, information flows &amp; sustainable energy transitions

Naus, Joeri

doi:10.18174/423138

Cited by 6 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 148 publications

(396 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Only four of the studies we analysed included households that were micro-producers of solar power. Microgeneration provides potentially an entry point to a radically different relationship to energy [46] (p. 90), as confirmed by two of the studies in our sample [52,62], in which some households with smart metering and photovoltaic panel installed adapted their domestic practices to match the solar peak periods. An analogy with farming was presented by a participant, referring to not wanting to waste the 'crops' one produces [62].…”

Section: Potentials Related To Materials and Infrastructuressupporting

confidence: 54%

“…HEM-practices could support energy transitions, and three orders of sociotechnical innovation related to energy transitions have been suggested. The orders differ in terms of the level of integration between domestic consumption practices and HEM-practices [46]. The first order innovations do not change the basic set-up of the household and its connection with the wider energy system, and do not connect domestic consumption practices with HEM-practices.…”

Section: Conceptual Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In second order innovations there is a stronger connection between HEM and domestic Despite the criticism of smart metering and rational optimisation of energy consumption, there have also been attempts to see if and how smart metering could become a more integrated element of different practices contributing to energy transition. It has been suggested that smart systems, including smart metering, could be an element in potentially emerging home energy management (HEM) practices involving energy monitoring, microgeneration, energy storage, energy trading/sharing, timing of demand and energy conservation, which are being promoted by smart grid development [46]. HEM-practices could support energy transitions, and three orders of sociotechnical innovation related to energy transitions have been suggested.…”

Section: Conceptual Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Examples include using an in-home energy display to monitor consumption or substitution of old appliances with more energy efficient ones. In second order innovations there is a stronger connection between HEM and domestic consumption practices, as well as the wider energy systems, e.g., timing of laundry or vacuuming practices to fit local energy production in order to de-link consumption from carbon intensive production and distribution practices [46]. Third order innovations present a more radical departure from the current system, involving increasingly sharing the tasks and responsibilities for energy production and distribution practices between households, existing service providers and new intermediaries (ibid.).…”

Section: Conceptual Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Third order innovations can also involve energy self-sufficient districts or energy cooperatives, transferring the power from centralised to de-centralised actors. In one scenario households belong to a personal carbon allowance trading scheme, and some domestic consumption practices are no longer private but become shared, e.g., through shared cars and shared laundry and cooking facilities [46] (pp. 130-133).…”

Section: Conceptual Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Framing Smart Meter Feedback in Relation to Practice Theory

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Smart metering is advancing rapidly and consumption feedback from smart meters is expected to help residents to reduce their energy and water consumption. In recent years, more critical views have been expressed based on theories of social practice, arguing that smart meter feedback ignores the role of various mundane practices where energy and water are consumed and instead targets individuals as active decision-makers. We present a review of qualitative studies on smart meter feedback and results of a survey to European smart metering projects. We argue that theories of social practice can be used to reframe the challenges and potentials of smart meter feedback that have been identified in the literature and our survey. This presents challenges of smart meter feedback as resulting from normalised resource intensive practices rather than from uninterested and comfort-loving individuals. Potentials of improving the effectiveness of smart meter feedback relate to supporting communities and peer-learning and combining smart meter feedback with micro-generation of renewable energy. This has implications for how domestic energy and water consumption is targeted by policy.term energy transition to refer to a systemic change from (the current), fossil-fuel based energy system where residents are mere consumers of energy, towards a system based on intermittent renewable energy sources and also involving power generation in smaller units, including the household and community level. The role of residents is expected to change in future smart energy systems and concepts of 'energy citizen' or 'citizen-consumer' and 'co-provider' have been used to describe residents who are actively engaged in the management of energy [7,8]. There are already examples of communities of front-runners in which learning from peers has contributed to increasing energy efficiency [9][10][11]. In a more critical context, the concept of 'Resource Man' has been introduced [12], referring to the ideal energy consumer that smart metering projects are targeted to.The objectives of smart electricity metering range from peak load management and reducing total demand to fraud detection and accurate billing [13] (p. 447). In the case of water metering, improved leak detection is also an important factor motivating smart meter roll-outs, in addition to the aim of decreasing the overall consumption of water e.g., [14]. There is variation in what residents see of the meters, from no direct information to in-home displays, websites or mobile applications visualising consumption in real-time [15].Large smart metering roll-out programs are under way or being planned throughout the developed countries. It is expected that by 2020 nearly 72% of European consumers will have a smart meter for electricity and 40% for gas [16]. The Energy Efficiency Directive of the EU also encourages the use of in-home displays [17], and the EU's 2015 Strategic Energy Technology Plan emphasises the need to provide smart solutions for energy consumers to enable them to optimise thei...

show abstract

Section: Potentials Related To Materials and Infrastructuressupporting

confidence: 54%

Section: Conceptual Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conceptual Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conceptual Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conceptual Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Framing Smart Meter Feedback in Relation to Practice Theory

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Householders co-managing energy systems: space for collaboration?

Smale

Spaargaren

Vliet

2018

Building Research & Information

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The potential role of households as 'co-managers' of energy in smart grids is widely discussed in the social science literature. Much remains uncertain about the social relations and practices emerging around novel smart grid technologies and their contribution to sustainability. Drawing on 14 'showand-tell' home tours with householders in a smart grid trial, an analysis is presented of how home energy management (HEM) is performed in everyday life. The focus is on three technologies: monitoring technologies, smart heat pumps and home batteries. How and why householders do (not) engage with energy management during the pilot project is described. When householders participate in HEM practices, they gain energy management understandings and an awareness of smart grid objectives. Since HEM practices are shared between householders and actors from the energy provision system, they display particular ways of distributing responsibilities, power and agency over technologies, experts and householders. The time and space granted to these three smart grid technologies are shown to depend on the trust relationships between householders and the more or less absent providers of technologies and services. These insights emphasize the need to develop smart grid solutions reflexively with respect to the different spaces and practices in households in which they operate.

show abstract

Housing retrofit: the household-inclusive way? : Perspectives from China and the Netherlands

Feijter¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Government officials and retrofit installers in both China and the Netherlands recognise the need to solve the problem of deteriorated housing and to do so while building trusting relationships with the citizen-consumers involved. Strongly regulated retrofit processes are being organised to improve the housing stock by housing retrofit. Carefully organised retrofit processes by installers and government officials are regarded as an important instrument to improve the quality of housing and to make energy-efficient use of apartments possible. In organised retrofit processes, the emphasis is commonly on a range of technical retrofit items. Typically, in the retrofitting of apartment buildings, basic measures, such as insulation solutions and heating, cooling, and ventilation systems, are considered to guarantee energy savings. The well-established policy ideals regarding smart homes and passive homes can be said to represent technocentric retrofitting strategies in which householders have passive roles. However, ongoing academic and societal debates have emerged about technocentric retrofit strategies. It is questioned whether or not the technology-centred strategies and ideals are best suited for organising retrofit projects in Chinese and Dutch cities, for example, when facing the specific development challenges of low-income householders with thermal comfort. It is argued that retrofitting existing homes, which is a societal problem, cannot be properly addressed without including the householders in the housing retrofit projects and processes.This thesis provides an academic discussion of the potential, benefits and challenges of householder inclusion faced by China and the Netherlands in the context of their ongoing and expanding housing retrofit programmes aimed at saving energy. The specific focus is on the retrofit policies, retrofit processes and the daily domestic routines or social practices of householders. The conventional strategies regarding householder participation and energy savings tend to be geared towards exploring whether or not and in what ways the packages of retrofit items are being adopted in the context of the 'new' domestic routines that come along with the retrofit. In this study, we aim to go beyond just studying (willingness to) adoption. We examine the impacts of organised retrofit processes on the The implications of household-inclusive housing retrofit projectsWhen studying the role of householders in retrofit processes, a promising approach would be to analyse how the householders' perspectives regarding everyday life match with or do not match with the perspectives of engineers and government officials as professional organisers of retrofit processes (Karvonen, 2013). Taking into account such a consumer perspective, therefore, requires not only understanding how the different domestic practices of heating, cooling and ventilation are composed and might change but also analysing how installers, engineers, policymakers and behaviour change practitioners attempt to reconfigure domest...

show abstract

The social dynamics of smart grids : On households, information flows & sustainable energy transitions

Cited by 6 publications

References 148 publications

Framing Smart Meter Feedback in Relation to Practice Theory

Framing Smart Meter Feedback in Relation to Practice Theory

Householders co-managing energy systems: space for collaboration?

Housing retrofit: the household-inclusive way? : Perspectives from China and the Netherlands

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About