Suchergebnisse

Throughout recent years, there has been an increase in the population size, as well as a fast economic growth, which has led to an increase of the energy demand that comes mainly from fossil fuels. In order to reduce the ecological footprint, governments have implemented sustainable measures and it is expected that by 2035 the energy produced from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar would be responsible for one-third of the energy produced globally. However, since the energy produced from renewable sources is governed by the availability of the respective primary energy source there is often a mismatch between production and demand, which could be solved by adding flexibility on the demand side through demand response (DR). DR programs influence the end-user electricity usage by changing its cost along the time. Under this scenario the user needs to estimate the energy demand and on-site production in advance to plan its energy demand according to the energy price. This work focuses on the development of an agent-based electrical simulator, capable of: (a) estimating the energy demand and on-site generation with a 1-min time resolution for a 24-h period, (b) calculating the energy price for a given scenario, (c) making suggestions on how to maximize the usage of renewable energy produced on-site and to lower the electricity costs by rescheduling the use of certain appliances. The results show that this simulator allows reducing the energy bill by 11% and almost doubling the use of renewable energy produced on-site.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether we can find, behind the richness of energy-saving behavior, more general behavioral patterns. Specifically, this study compares the one-factor confirmatory model, the two-factor confirmatory model, and the Rasch model, which embody alternative assumptions about the dimensionality of energy-saving behavior. Unlike previous studies, this study uses a confirmatory approach to the testing of alternative models, and covers 10 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries ( N = 10,251). This makes our tests rigorous and generalizable beyond a country-specific context. Our results indicate that energy saving is a one-dimensional class of behavior that is a function of individual's propensity to engage in energy saving and the difficulty of energy-saving behavior. The Rasch model provides a valid and parsimonious representation of energy-saving behavior that outperforms the one- and two-factor models. We also show that the curtailment–efficiency dichotomy is not empirically valid.

Climate change has become a major concern for research and policy in recent decades, and housing has been an important area to tackle as globally this sector accounts for roughly a quarter of energy demand, and its resulting carbon emissions (Staffell et al., 2015). Behaviour change campaigns constitute a significant strand within government responses to reduce carbon emissions. However, on the grounds that environmental impact has little to do with individual's intentions, there is growing interest in the ordinary, rather than the extraordinary (e.g. pro-environmental values), and the socio-material transformation of collective conventions (Shove, 2010). Research emerging from this 'practice turn' is often underpinned by evidence of changing expectations of comfort that undermine improvements in energy efficiency (Hitchings and Lee, 2008; Walker et al., 2016). Notably, research indicates that it is increasingly common for indoor environments to be maintained within a narrow range of temperatures through mechanical heating and cooling, which has significant implications for energy (Shove, 2003). While these practice-informed studies have successfully offered new avenues for intervention in sustainable consumption, home comfort has been rather narrowly investigated and has often been equated with thermal comfort. Yet expectations of home comfort and household management decisions are much more complex and multifaceted than the desire to be sufficiently warm or cool. A focus on thermal comfort has arguably trivialised other meanings of home comfort that might also be significant to understanding patterns of domestic energy demand. The aim of this thesis therefore was to develop a concept of home comfort to inform understandings, debates and policy related to domestic energy demand, and this thesis presents data from whole-household interviews, house tours, ideal drawings and home energy adviser interviews to address this aim. A key finding of this thesis was that home comfort is a sense of relaxation and wellbeing, which results from companionship and having some sense of control in the home. Broadening out understandings of occupant satisfaction to account for some of this complexity draws attention to householder's perception of the space per person 'needed' to facilitate comfortably sharing the home with others. Engaging with the trend towards increasing space per person is important because it has the potential to reduce energy demand for space heating without falling back into emphasising technical intervention or questioning the standardisation of thermal comfort. Furthermore, householder's actions to reduce domestic energy demand were found to be tightly, if implicitly, linked to expectations of home comfort and processes of homemaking. It is important to remember that changes to the home are not simply the result of financial rationalisation or attempts to improve thermal comfort. There is certainly scope for the concept of home comfort to inform understanding of domestic energy demand and to highlight alternative strategies to 'steer' towards more sustainable forms of everyday life.

In light of the recent launch of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard targeting the energy performance of commercial buildings, this study compares the energy performance certificates of three UK hotels generated by two different software, EDSL TAS and SBEM, both accredited by the UK government for the purpose. Upon finding the results discrepant, the study finds that the two software's different assumptions for the air permeability rate contribute to the discrepancy. While modifying this value makes the results from the two software more aligned, further issues regarding the validation process arise. The study continues to find that the underlying issue can be found within the National Calculation Methodology's assumption about domestic hot water consumption in hotels. These assumptions are compulsory to follow when generating a non-domestic energy performance certificate in the UK, therefore, any uncertainties within them can affect all the buildings seeking an energy performance certificate within that sector. Finally, the study discusses that, for meeting the carbon dioxide mitigation goals, it is necessary to make changes to the current procedure of energy performance certificate generating in the UK to increase its reliability.

Purpose - This paper analyses the extent to which households are deprived (or otherwise) of clean energy sources in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach - It engages the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey data (GDHS VI). Three different energy deprivation indicators were estimated: cooking fuel deprivation, lighting deprivation and indoor air pollution. The empirical evidence is based on logit regressions that explain whether households are deprived or not. Findings - The results show that energy deprivation or access is contingent on the area of residence. Energy access and deprivation in Ghana show some regional disparities, even though across every region, the majority of households use three fuel types: Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), charcoal and wood cut. Increases in wealth and education lead to reduction in the likelihood of being energy deprived. Thus, efforts should be geared towards policies that will ensure households having access to clean fuels to reduce the attendant deprivations and corresponding effects of using dangerous or dirty fuels. Originality/value - This study complements the extant literature by analysing the extent to which households are deprived (or otherwise) of clean energy sources in Ghana.

In light of the recent launch of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard targeting the energy performance of commercial buildings, this study compares the energy performance certificates of three UK hotels generated by two different software, EDSL TAS and SBEM, both accredited by the UK government for the purpose. Upon finding the results discrepant, the study finds that the two software's different assumptions for the air permeability rate contribute to the discrepancy. While modifying this value makes the results from the two software more aligned, further issues regarding the validation process arise. The study continues to find that the underlying issue can be found within the National Calculation Methodology's assumption about domestic hot water consumption in hotels. These assumptions are compulsory to follow when generating a non-domestic energy performance certificate in the UK, therefore, any uncertainties within them can affect all the buildings seeking an energy performance certificate within that sector. Finally, the study discusses that, for meeting the carbon dioxide mitigation goals, it is necessary to make changes to the current procedure of energy performance certificate generating in the UK to increase its reliability.