| 1. |
- Broms, Loove, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Sensing energy : Forming stories through speculative design artefacts
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 31, s. 194-204
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The artificial world is part of an on-going negotiation of meaning, manifesting in social practice. From a sustainability perspective it is thus important to critically examine what norms are imprinted into the artificial, as well as to imagine, materialize and suggest artefacts that could afford more sustainable stories and practices to form. The project Sensing Energy is an attempt to explore how design could contribute to a re-imagination of everyday life and society, as well as what imaginaries (artefacts and related stories) could come out of such an endeavour. A critical and speculative design programme comprising the three leitmotifs Natureculture, Microsizing modernity, and Focal things and practices, provided a frame and foundation for a series of design experiments. The resulting artefacts were presented at two different workshops in which participants were asked to form stories that integrated one or more of the design experiments into their everyday life. Based on the material from the workshops we can conclude that the design experiments worked well as parts of or catalysts for new stories of the everyday.
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| 2. |
- Eidenskog, Maria
(författare)
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Working with models: Social and material relations entangled with energy efficiency modelling in Sweden
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 34, s. 224-230
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Modelling the energy use of buildings during the planning process is a well-established practice within the construction industry today. This article studies how these models are handled in practice and the issues that arise around them. This is a case study that follows the planning process of a block of rental buildings in Sweden. With an Actor Network approach this article shows how the complexity of the energy model affects the relationships between the energy consultant and the professionals from the construction company. Since the construction company professionals do not understand the calculations behind the model, they have to trust the energy consultants expertise. Furthermore, the energy modelling practices create tensions when proposed architectural designs are at odds with the energy efficiency goals. Lastly, the article shows how the uncertainties connected to the models calculations provide an arena where personal feelings are allowed to be part of the process. From the perspective of the involved professionals, energy modelling is shown to entangle social and material relations in ways that have not previously been studied in relation to energy efficiency in the process of planning new buildings.
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| 3. |
- Hagbert, Pernilla, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Transitions on the home front : A story of sustainable living beyond eco-efficiency
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 31:Supplement C, s. 240-248
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The environmental impact associated with modern ways of living is widely recognized and has been increasingly problematized. A prevailing discourse in sustainable housing tends to focus on building performance, along with compelling stories of “green” lifestyles and attractive urban housing concepts, while avoiding storylines that suggest more profound changes in society and everyday life. This paper argues that in order to address the resource-intensity of contemporary ways of living, we need to engage with perspectives of transition that go beyond technical eco-efficient solutions. Other narratives are therefore explored, based in empirical insights from home visits and in-depth interviews with people seeking less impactful and more self-sufficient ways of living in the context of an affluent society as Sweden. The paper looks at how alternative narratives are manifested in (and through) the home as a starting point for transitions to a low-impact society. Highlighting aspects of agency, situated in the everyday and in the existing built fabric, these “home front transitioners” provide another story – one that questions mainstream assumptions of a pre-defined green lifestyle, and contributes to a more diversified perspective on sustainable living.
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| 4. |
- Kuchler, Magdalena, 1979-
(författare)
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Post-conventional energy futures : Rendering Europe's shale gas resources governable
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 31, s. 32-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Following the shale gas boom in the United States, unconventional natural gas extracted from organic-rich shale rock formations has generated increasing attention in the European Union (EU). This considerable interest has been spurred by a range of optimistic volumetric appraisals of shale gas resource potential trapped beneath the European continent. The paper critically examines rationalities and practices through which states of resource availability and recoverability are made visible, measurable, intelligible, and thus rendered governable, namely open to new fields of possibilities to act upon. By implementing the concept of socio-technical imaginaries as governmentality approach, the analysis is guided by two objectives: first, to identify visions of shale gas potential contained in a range of resource estimates; second, to scrutinize rationalities of government, that is how shale gas resources are made knowable and purposeful, as well as technologies of government that operationalize these rationalities via practices of calculation, visualization, and inscription. The paper illustrates that, these highly speculative and uncertain assessments can forge powerful volumetric imaginaries of shale gas potential that yield specific governing effects concerned with securitization of unconventional hydrocarbons availability. Consequently, these imaginaries prescribe and legitimize techno-political hopes for certain post-conventional energy futures underpinning the fossil fuel abundance narrative.
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| 5. |
- Lazarevic, David, et al.
(författare)
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Narrating expectations for the circular economy: towards a common and contested European transition
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 31, s. 60-69
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The European Union (EU) has set its sights on becoming a circular economy, envisaging a transition that implies systemic changes in natural resource transformations and material flows; and offering a response to what is commonly labelled as the ‘take-make-dispose’ conventional economic model. What does the transition toward a circular economy entail and what can it do? This paper analyses the emergence and mobilisation of expectations that are shaping the EU transition to a circular economy. It traces the narrative elements through which the circular economy is configured through an analysis of position papers presented to inform the debate on the European Commission’s circular economy package. Expectations for the circular economy are articulated as: (1) a perfect circle of slow material flows; (2) a shift from consumer to user; (3) growth through circularity and decoupling; and (4) a solution to European renewal. Extending boundaries of what is ‘in’ benefits actors driving the circular economy as, in the short-term, they can actively support a deliberately vague, but uncontroversial, circular economy. On the one hand, the expectations present a strong sense of a collective ‘we’, on the other hand we are yet to see the contentions and contestations being full playing out
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| 6. |
- Mola-Yudego, Blas
(författare)
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Achievable or unbelievable? Expert perceptions of the European Union targets for emissions, renewables, and efficiency
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Research and Social Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 34, s. 144-153
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2007, the European Union (EU) set goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, called H2020 targets, by 2020. Following the adoption and implementation of policies related to these targets, this study surveyed 187 experts from 25 EU countries to analyse their perceptions regarding the achievement of the H2020 targets. The experts' countries are grouped in five geographical regions: Central European countries (CEC), Western European countries (WEC), South-Eastern European countries (SEEC), Nordic countries (NC), and East European countries (EEC). The survey results demonstrate a broad scepticism among those interviewed: 49% perceive that the renewable energy (RE) target will not be accomplished, 60% perceive that the EU's GHG emission policies are not sufficient to fulfil the GHG reduction target, and 85% state that the EU's energy efficiency will not succeed. The regional comparison reveals that an overwhelming majority (82-93%) from SEEC, NC, and EEC feel that consistent and sufficient incentives are necessary to meet the RE targets for biomass. Contrary to the majority opinion among WEC experts, the majority from all other regions perceive that the EU GHG policies are insufficient and that the H2020 targets will not be achieved.
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| 7. |
- Newell, David, et al.
(författare)
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Network management and renewable energy development : An analytical framework with empirical illustrations
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 23, s. 199-210
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The promotion of renewable energy is an essential component of energy and climate policies, but it is increasingly recognized that the transition toward an increased use of renewable energy sources constitutes a complex socio-political process. Policy is manifested in multi-actor networks beyond formal hierarchies and must therefore build on a comprehensive empirical understanding of the local collaboration processes that make investments in renewable energy projects possible. The objectives of this article are to: (a) propose an analytical framework within which the local development processes leading to renewable energy investments can be understood, in particular emphasizing the management of the relevant actor networks; and (b) provide empirical illustrations of the framework based on existing research. The article argues that, based on network management theory, some network structures can be expected to be more successful than others in facilitating renewable energy development, and we recognize the ways in which networks and their structure tend to be placed within certain institutional contexts of rules. By consulting selected research on wind power development at the local level we illustrate the added value of the proposed framework, and outline the seeds of a future research agenda.
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| 8. |
- Pargman, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
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What if there had only been half the oil? : Rewriting history to envision the consequences of peak oil
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 31:SI, s. 170-178
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is unequivocal evidence that we are facing the greatest energy transition since the dawn of the industrial age. We need to urgently shift from a global fossil fuel and CO2-emitting energy system to 1) decrease our CO2 emissions and combat the effects of climate change and 2) face a future of depleting fossil fuel resources. Yet there is still a lack of collective action to start taking effective measures to meet these challenges. We argue that there is a need for narratives in general and for a special type of narrative in particular, allohistorical scenarios, that act as thought experiments whose main function is to defamiliarize us with what is taken for granted. Such scenarios invite us to explore plausible parallel paths, thereby making it possible to imagine futures that are essentially different from the path-dependence of an unyielding historical past. Such futures enable us to grapple with a present that is saturated by the inertia of past decisions and the sunken costs of existing infrastructure. We here present the design rationale for the Coalworld scenario: an alternative world where only half the oil ever existed. We also describe the methodology and the assumptions that underlie the Coalworld scenario.
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| 9. |
- Shivakumar, Abhishek, et al.
(författare)
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Valuing blackouts and lost leisure : Estimating electricity interruption costs for households across the European Union
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 34, s. 39-48
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Security of power supply is a crucial element of energy system planning and policy. However, the value that society places on it is not clearly known. Several previous studies estimate the cost of electricity interruptions for individual European Union (EU) Member States – as the Value of Lost Load (VoLL). In this paper, we use a production-function approach to estimate the average annual VoLL for households in all twenty-eight EU Member States. This is the first time that a unified approach has been applied for a single year across the EU. VoLL is further presented on an hourly basis to better understand the impact of the time at which the interruption occurs. Finally, we analyse the impact of ‘substitutability factor’ – the proportion of household activities that are electricity-dependent – on the VoLL. Results from this study show that the differences in VoLL between EU Member States is significantly large, ranging from 3.2 €/kWh in Bulgaria to 15.8 €/kWh in the Netherlands. The annual average VoLL for the EU was calculated to be 8.7 €/kWh. Results from this study can be used to inform key areas of European energy policy and market design.
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| 10. |
- Bager, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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Making ‘Smart Meters’ smarter? Insights from a behavioural economics pilot field experiment in Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Research and Social Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2214-6296. ; 28, s. 68-76
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper examines the relationship between loss aversion and consumer behaviour in a non-price policy intervention that followed the installation of smart meter (SM) technology. Drawing upon insights from behavioural economics, we propose that consumers underestimate potential gains and overestimate potential financial losses resulting from electricity use. To test the hypothesis, we carried out a pilot study involving the installation of SM technology in Copenhagen, Denmark. The analysis used two baselines, and the differential effects revealed that the provision of loss-framed, salient information reduced daily demand by 7–11%, compared to unframed information. Reductions in standby consumption were more pronounced, with a differential effect of 16–25%. Despite the limitations inherent in a pilot study, notably the small sample size, the findings suggest that policies that address SM technology need to consider not only the pure provision of information, but also how it is designed and presented to users. Several aspects for further research are identified.
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