TY - JOUR

T1 - Purely ornamental?

T2 - Public perceptions of distributed energy storage in the United Kingdom

AU - Ambrosio-Albalá, Pepa

AU - Upham, Paul

AU - Bale, Catherine S.E.

N1 - This work was funding by the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) through the SUPERGEN Energy Storage Challenge Project C-MADEnS (Consortium for Modelling and Analysis of Decentralised Energy Storage, EPSRC reference EP/N001745/1). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the rest of the C-MADEnS team, particularly to Dr. Andrew Pimm for his assistance during the fieldwork of this research. Thanks to Leeds City Council for arranging access to participants.

PY - 2019/2/1

Y1 - 2019/2/1

N2 - Distributed energy storage technologies (DES) are expected to help in decarbonising the power sector, decentralising power sources and meeting the mismatch between the produced and consumed energy. However, the likelihood of the use and acceptance of these technologies will partly hinge on public perceptions. Here, we present results of three focus groups and dialogue from the city of Leeds (UK) held with members the lay public with and without personal experience of technology (photovoltaic panels) about public perceptions of distributed energy storage technologies at household and community scale. We apply and adapt the Energy Cultures framework, which was initially developed for understanding energy behaviours as mediated by individual psychological factors, by practice-based, energy-related culture and infrastructural elements. Accordingly, we connect what people think, do and have in energy contexts, to better understand perceptions of DES technologies as part of a broader renewable energy landscape (culture) that is both materially and socially constructed. We show how a variety of elements such as forms of energy consumption; costs; expectations of family members; previous experiences; perceptions of government and the municipal authority; and expectations about the technologies, are likely to shape acceptance and adoption of battery storage at the household and community level.

AB - Distributed energy storage technologies (DES) are expected to help in decarbonising the power sector, decentralising power sources and meeting the mismatch between the produced and consumed energy. However, the likelihood of the use and acceptance of these technologies will partly hinge on public perceptions. Here, we present results of three focus groups and dialogue from the city of Leeds (UK) held with members the lay public with and without personal experience of technology (photovoltaic panels) about public perceptions of distributed energy storage technologies at household and community scale. We apply and adapt the Energy Cultures framework, which was initially developed for understanding energy behaviours as mediated by individual psychological factors, by practice-based, energy-related culture and infrastructural elements. Accordingly, we connect what people think, do and have in energy contexts, to better understand perceptions of DES technologies as part of a broader renewable energy landscape (culture) that is both materially and socially constructed. We show how a variety of elements such as forms of energy consumption; costs; expectations of family members; previous experiences; perceptions of government and the municipal authority; and expectations about the technologies, are likely to shape acceptance and adoption of battery storage at the household and community level.

KW - Attitudes

KW - Batteries

KW - Energy Cultures framework

KW - Household and community energy storage

KW - Sustainability Science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055048008&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.erss.2018.09.014

DO - 10.1016/j.erss.2018.09.014

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85055048008

VL - 48

SP - 139

EP - 150

JO - Energy Research and Social Science

JF - Energy Research and Social Science

SN - 2214-6296

ER -