Cargando…

Rebound and Spillovers: Prosumers in Transition

Generating energy by renewable sources like wind, sun or water has led to the emergence of “clean” energy that is generally available at low cost to the environment and is generated from seemingly unbounded resources. Many countries have implemented schemes to support the diffusion of renewable ener...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Dütschke, Elisabeth, Galvin, Ray, Brunzema, Iska
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8082245/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33935887
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636109
_version_ 1783685812073791488
author Dütschke, Elisabeth
Galvin, Ray
Brunzema, Iska
author_facet Dütschke, Elisabeth
Galvin, Ray
Brunzema, Iska
author_sort Dütschke, Elisabeth
collection PubMed
description Generating energy by renewable sources like wind, sun or water has led to the emergence of “clean” energy that is generally available at low cost to the environment and is generated from seemingly unbounded resources. Many countries have implemented schemes to support the diffusion of renewable energies. The diffusion of micro-generation technologies like roof-top photovoltaics is one of the success stories within the energy transition and has been significantly driven—at least in countries such as Germany—by households. As these households usually not only generate energy but also consume it they are often called “prosumers.” How does it influence the energy behavior of households if they become prosumers? Are these behavioral changes in line with further goals of the energy transition, e.g., reducing demand? What shapes individual behaviors of prosumers? The paper introduces a conceptual framework based on the existing literature on rebound and spillover effects. It systematizes possible behavioral consequences as well as mechanisms behind them. This framework is then used to code and analyze data from 48 in-depth interviews with prosumer households. These interviews reveal a broad variety of behavioral responses which have their roots in economic conditions and their evaluation by the prosumers, psychological mechanisms like central guiding principles and a clear conscience as well as sociotechnical context and legislative frameworks.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8082245
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-80822452021-04-30 Rebound and Spillovers: Prosumers in Transition Dütschke, Elisabeth Galvin, Ray Brunzema, Iska Front Psychol Psychology Generating energy by renewable sources like wind, sun or water has led to the emergence of “clean” energy that is generally available at low cost to the environment and is generated from seemingly unbounded resources. Many countries have implemented schemes to support the diffusion of renewable energies. The diffusion of micro-generation technologies like roof-top photovoltaics is one of the success stories within the energy transition and has been significantly driven—at least in countries such as Germany—by households. As these households usually not only generate energy but also consume it they are often called “prosumers.” How does it influence the energy behavior of households if they become prosumers? Are these behavioral changes in line with further goals of the energy transition, e.g., reducing demand? What shapes individual behaviors of prosumers? The paper introduces a conceptual framework based on the existing literature on rebound and spillover effects. It systematizes possible behavioral consequences as well as mechanisms behind them. This framework is then used to code and analyze data from 48 in-depth interviews with prosumer households. These interviews reveal a broad variety of behavioral responses which have their roots in economic conditions and their evaluation by the prosumers, psychological mechanisms like central guiding principles and a clear conscience as well as sociotechnical context and legislative frameworks. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-04-15 /pmc/articles/PMC8082245/ /pubmed/33935887 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636109 Text en Copyright © 2021 Dütschke, Galvin and Brunzema. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Dütschke, Elisabeth
Galvin, Ray
Brunzema, Iska
Rebound and Spillovers: Prosumers in Transition
title Rebound and Spillovers: Prosumers in Transition
title_full Rebound and Spillovers: Prosumers in Transition
title_fullStr Rebound and Spillovers: Prosumers in Transition
title_full_unstemmed Rebound and Spillovers: Prosumers in Transition
title_short Rebound and Spillovers: Prosumers in Transition
title_sort rebound and spillovers: prosumers in transition
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8082245/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33935887
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636109
work_keys_str_mv AT dutschkeelisabeth reboundandspilloversprosumersintransition
AT galvinray reboundandspilloversprosumersintransition
AT brunzemaiska reboundandspilloversprosumersintransition