Demanding expectations : Exploring the experience of distributed heat generation in Europe

Reid, Louise and Ellsworth-Krebs, Katherine (2021) Demanding expectations : Exploring the experience of distributed heat generation in Europe. Energy Research and Social Science, 71: 101821. ISSN 2214-6296

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Abstract

In this study, we advance thinking around microgeneration for heat, moving debates on from issues of adoption and performance to bring richer and more sophisticated understandings of how and why households install and live with renewable energy technologies. We draw on a study with 32 households in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, presenting qualitative data collected through an online photo journal to provide insights on the subjective experience of microgeneration for heat technology. We identified a tension between the installation and operational phases of microgeneration for heat systems highlighting that routine, daily domestic practices were at least, if not more, important than the building fabric when seeking to deliver energy savings. This tension was common to both United Kingdom and Dutch households and all microgeneration for heat types, although more pronounced for those with biomass systems. We also explore how householders’ ideas of the future impact on the use of and demand for microgeneration for heat systems; with United Kingdom participants more likely to anticipate greater demand and have systems they felt were ‘over capacity’. We argue that householders’ perspectives, particularly in relation to expectations around future energy demand, are generally overlooked in renewable energy research.

Item Type:

Journal Article

Journal or Publication Title:

Energy Research and Social Science

Additional Information:

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Energy Research and Social Science. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Energy Research and Social Science, 72, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2020.101821

Uncontrolled Keywords:

/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2100/2105

Subjects:

?? microgenerationenergy demanddomestic practiceshomeonline journaluknetherlandsrenewable energy, sustainability and the environmentenergy engineering and power technologynuclear energy and engineeringfuel technologysocial sciences (miscellaneous) ??

Departments:

Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences > Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts

ID Code:

171176

Deposited By:

ep_importer_pure

Deposited On:

01 Jun 2022 15:05

Refereed?:

Yes

Published?:

Published