What Is Energy For? Social Practice and Energy Demand:
Elizabeth Shove,Gordon Walker +1 more
TLDR
In this paper, the authors develop an alternative approach, viewing energy supply and energy demand as part of the ongoing reproduction of bundles and complexes of social practice, and show how social-theoretical commitments influence the ways in which problems like those of reducing carbon emissions are framed and addressed.Abstract:
Energy has an ambivalent status in social theory, variously figuring as a driver or an outcome of social and institutional change, or as something that is woven into the fabric of society itself. In this article the authors consider the underlying models on which different approaches depend. One common strategy is to view energy as a resource base, the management and organization of which depends on various intersecting systems: political, economic and technological. This is not the only route to take. The authors develop an alternative approach, viewing energy supply and energy demand as part of the ongoing reproduction of bundles and complexes of social practice. In articulating and comparing these two positions they show how social-theoretical commitments influence the ways in which problems like those of reducing carbon emissions are framed and addressed. Whereas theories of practice highlight basic questions about what energy is for, these issues are routinely and perhaps necessarily obscured by those who see energy as an abstract resource that structures or that is structured by a range of interlocking social systems.read more
Citations
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Reducing energy demand: A review of issues, challenges and approaches
TL;DR: The authors provides an overview of the main issues and challenges associated with energy demand reduction, summarises how this challenge is framed by key academic disciplines, indicates how these can provide complementary insights for policymakers and argues that a socotechnical perspective can provide a deeper understanding of the nature of this challenge and the processes through which it can be achieved.
Journal ArticleDOI
Carbon Lock-In: Types, Causes, and Policy Implications
Karen C. Seto,Steven J. Davis,Steven J. Davis,Steven J. Davis,Ronald B. Mitchell,Eleanor C. Stokes,Gregory C. Unruh,Diana Ürge-Vorsatz +7 more
TL;DR: A systematic review of carbon lock-in can be found in this article, where the authors characterize the types and causes of carbon-lock-in, or quantitatively assess and evaluate its policy implications.
Journal ArticleDOI
Making the most of community energies: Three perspectives on grassroots innovation:
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply three distinct analytical perspectives: strategic niche management, niche policy advocacy, and critical niches, and argue that, if grassroots innovation is to realise its full potential, then we need to also pursue a third, critical niche perspective, and open up debate about more socially transformative pathways to sustainability.
Journal ArticleDOI
The question of energy reduction: The problem(s) with feedback
TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw on existing quantitative and qualitative evidence to outline three key problems with feedback, namely, limited evidence of efficacy, the need for user engagement, and the potential for unintended consequences, and conclude that existing in-home displays may not induce the desired energy-reduction response anticipated by smart metering initiatives.
Journal ArticleDOI
High-resolution stochastic integrated thermal–electrical domestic demand model
Eoghan McKenna,Murray Thomson +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the extension of CREST's existing electrical domestic demand model into an integrated thermal-electrical demand model, which can also serve as a basis for modelling domestic energy demands within the broader field of urban energy systems analysis.
References
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