• Energy Research

Household electricity use has an increasing impact on the overall energy system. Numerous proposals have been made to support households to consume electricity in a system-friendlier manner. By breaking these proposals down into functions and how they are performed, this paper identifies four distinctive governance designs: energy communities, variable electricity tariffs, local energy markets and virtual power plants. None covers all the functions required and each addresses different trade-offs that households face. Energy communities focus on investing in energy assets, while the others target the operation of households’ assets, including demand response. Virtual power plants attract profit-oriented consumers, while the others primarily target normative consumers.

For many years, carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been discussed as a technology that may make a significant contribution to achieving major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. At present, however, only two large-scale power plants capture a total of 2.4 Mt CO2/a. Several reasons are identified for this mismatch between expectations and realised deployment. Applying bibliographic coupling, the research front of CCS, understood to be published peer-reviewed papers, is explored to scrutinise whether the current research is sufficient to meet these problems. The analysis reveals that research is dominated by technical research (69%). Only 31% of papers address non-technical issues, particularly exploring public perception, policy, and regulation, providing a broader view on CCS implementation on the regional or national level, or using assessment frameworks. This shows that the research is advancing and attempting to meet the outlined problems, which are mainly non-technology related. In addition to strengthening this research, the proportion of papers that adopt a holistic approach may be increased in a bid to meet the challenges involved in transforming a complex energy system. It may also be useful to include a broad variety of stakeholders in research so as to provide a more resilient development of CCS deployment strategies.

Full decarbonisation of the electricity system is one of the key elements to limit global warming. As this transition takes place, the electricity system must maintain system adequacy and remain affordable to consumers. In liberalised electricity markets investors are seen as key actors driving this transition. Due to the intermittent character of renewable assets, such as wind or solar parks, electricity systems with large shares of renewable electricity will need to become increasingly flexible. Evaluating whether specific market designs provide the right incentives to invest in flexibility, requires the simulation of realistic investor behaviour. Agent-based modelling provides the means to explore heterogeneous, imperfectly informed and boundedly rational investor behaviour within different electricity market designs. We evaluated two market designs; “energy-only” markets and markets with a Capacity Remuneration Mechanism (CRM). We conclude that energy-only markets, even with strong carbon pricing, do not incentivise investors to deliver a fully renewable, reliable and affordable energy system. Therefore policy makers should focus on developing CRMs which can work in combination with market incentives to reach a fully renewable, reliable and affordable electricity system in the second half of this century.

To elucidate the impact of CO2 Emission-Trading on the European electricity production system-of-systems an Agent Based Model has been developed. The model emulates the long-term evolution of the European electricity production system-of-systems as a series of investment decisions by independent agents. Simulation results are reported that underpin recommendations for European CO2-policy. A live model will be presented.

Abstract To understand the consequences of the E.U. ban on incandescent lamps, an agent-based model is developed in which consumer behaviour regarding purchase of lamps is simulated. Consumers are modelled as having heterogeneous and dynamic preferences on lamps. Development of preferences depends on memory and perceptions, as well as interaction in a social network structure. Lighting technology is modelled to cover many different lamps and technologies. The results indicate that the ban on bulbs will be effective in realising an energy efficient sector. Although the ban on bulbs causes a spike in consumers’ purchases, the consequent benefits of energy saving outweigh the additional costs of purchasing these lamps. Introducing a tax on incandescent lamps would also be effective given a sufficiently high tax level and could be income-neutral with respect to purchasing lamps. A possible penetration of halogen lamps may hamper the transition to lower electricity consumption.

Heating behavior of households is key for reducing domestic energy demand and mitigating climate change. Recently, various technical devices have been developed, providing households with feedback on their heating behavior and supporting energy conservation behavior. The impact of such devices on overall energy consumption depends on (1) the impact of a device within a household, (2) the diffusion of devices to other households and the number of adopters, and (3) the diffusion of the induced behavioral change beyond these households. While the first two processes are currently established in assessments of sustainable household devices, we suggest that adding behavior diffusion is essential when assessing devices that explicitly target behavioral change. We therefore propose an assessment framework that includes all three processes. We implement this framework in an agent-based model by combining two existing simulation models to explore the effect of adding behavior diffusion. In three simulation experiments, we identify two mechanisms by which behavior diffusion (1) spreads the effect of such devices from adopters to non-adopters and (2) increases the average speed of behavioral change of households. From these results we conclude that behavior diffusion should be included in assessments of behavior-changing feedback devices.

In this paper, we link findings from a demographically representative discrete choice experiment (DCE) in eight European countries on the adoption of smart thermostats with an agent-based model (ABM) in a methodologically consistent way. We employ the ABM to simulate the diffusion pattern of smart thermostats until 2030 and to examine the effects of subsidies and recommendations by specific agents. Our findings highlight the importance of allowing for within- and across country heterogeneity in preferences for these policies and for technology attributes such as heating cost savings. Further, social interactions reinforce country differences in technology stock in the starting year of the simulations. We find that subsidies moderately accelerate the diffusion of smart thermostats, but they are less effective in countries with a large stock of smart thermostats in the starting year, strong preferences for heating cost savings, and when smart thermostats lead to a strong reduction in heating costs. For some countries, targeting subsidies at particular socio-economic groups (in our case low-income households) slightly mitigates free-riding effects. Our policy simulations further imply that recommendations by energy providers or by energy experts accelerate the diffusion of smart thermostats compared to recommendations by peers. Energie and Industrie

This systematic literature review synthesises the literature on socio-psychological drivers and barriers to heat pump adoption and efficient use in households, drawing from the 16 research articles available. The review reveals mixed findings: variables were found influential in some studies but not in others. In addition to financial considerations, negative expectations regarding comfort and performance also hinder adoption. The literature on user behaviours suggests that comfort, knowledge, and home characteristics influence how heat pumps are operated, including temperature settings, heating area, and ventilation behaviour. A key research gap is the insufficient study of variables relating to the individual, such as psychological and socio-demographic factors. Based on the findings, we recommend public awareness campaigns to emphasise non-financial benefits of heat pumps, particularly comfort, which users often experience as an advantage. To optimise user behaviour, we recommend offering technical support services, simplifying system interfaces, and providing actionable feedback information on energy consumption.

The end of cheap oil has created a new sense of urgency: we must increase our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of system transitions and learn how to steer complex and large socio-technical systems such as the energy infrastructure. To this end, we present a framework for assessing the system transition process using simulation. This consists of (1) unravelling the interaction and feedback between system levels and actors (2) determining the role of relevant actors (3) defining suitable transition indicators (4) developing a simulation model. Assessing the energy system transition induced by the European carbon policies illustrates the use of this framework. Therein, net CO2 emission and the power generation portfolio are deemed as transition indicators.