Energy

Energy

1. underlies every one of our daily transactions: Can't live without.

   • CO2 emissions- risen 70% from 1970-2004 due to human activities..  home energy consumption is 22% of total use..

2. Electricity Generation in NZ

   • 75% of NZs energy is non fossil- goal is 90% renewable by 2025
   • mostly hydro
     • also lots of geothermal, wind- not much but on rise, Solar energy- becoming pop for individual use - less trust in power companies.
   • Blueskin Bay
     • Material Culture -Wind testing towers -electric vechile retrofit innovation -insulation retrofit project -photovoltaic cells and single-house turbines Norms and Aspirations -community 'visioning' workshops -community meetings -visiting speakers on sustainability -visiting a windfarm Energy Practices -hands on learning -shifting travel modes -energy advisery service -local wood supply for heating.
     • 2008: 200 households-  2013: 1000 households ---social norming- ripple effect.

3. Renewable energy problems

   • weather dependant- eg solar and wind.

4. Energy Cultures Framework

   • Self reinforcing.- dont happen in isolation- shaped by context..
   • Norms and Aspirations
     • Cultural expectations: What you expect- vs what you find it to be like
   • Material Culture
     • Sacramento California: All houses intended to be 'zero energy homes'- yet individual households varied drastically in energy use- despite identical houses. Material culture is important- however, human behaviour is also very influential
   • Energy Practices
     • Change depending on location etc- how you use technology available

5. ENERGY AND TRANSPORT

   • Mobility: Abilitiy to move Access: Ability to get what you need.
   • International Travel: Hypermobile- air travel becoming more commmon National: Peak Car: -evidence suggests we are moving less now than we were 20 years ago.
   • Mobile lives- less need to travel to get what we need- eg online shopping/banking/ socialising,
   • Transport energy in NZ
     • Road transport: 80% of emissions- Air Transport: 13% Rail Transport: 0.5%
     • Light passenger vechiles: NZs biggest GHG contributer
       • Energy and transport contribute to 43% of our GHG emissions...
   • Generation Y (18-35) : Less likely to have a drivers license or own car than earlier generations
     • ICT Environ concerns Urban living financial concerns overseas travel.
   • Modality
     • Modal Choice: How do we decide how to get around. Depends on terrain: Air/water/road- active vs motorised: Private vs public-- Some people private is most important-habing control- which could be car or bike.
     • Modal Choice: Factors: weather, distance, time, cost, whether you have to change, convenience, knowledge of options, percieved distances more important than actual distances.
     • Perceptions of travel mode- connected to how we see the world, and how we want the world to see us, how we identify ourselves.
     • Automobility
       • Car became dominant way we moved around spaces- in turn created spaces that demand car based travel. Car has now- become part of ones identiy, become a human right + life without a car has become very difficult..
       • System both allows AND Reinforces need to drive.-reinforced by infrastructure policy, social norms, Freq places you cannot visit without a vehicle- expectation that everyone has access to a vehicle..
       • Good: Freedom, autonomy, and access.. Bad: reliance on fossil fuels, system of autodependance, social inequality, injustice, health issues. Ugly: Vested Interests eg oil companies- making sure we continue to rely on car Power Assymitries. no saay in where parking etc is..
     • Sustainable Mobility Paradigm
       • Sustainable Mobility:Environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. 
       • Reduced need to travel/ substitution: technologu to substiture need to travel.. Transport Policy/Faciliatling: encouraging a modal shift- private - public  -incentivising changes.. Land Use Policy/Faciliating: reduce distance needed tp travel places... Technological Innovation: increasing efficiancy of old technology, and moving towards new technologies such as hybrid cars.
       • Spectrum of opportnites- use them all together- using just one unlikely to work as well... Freight needs to be considered in new paradigm- rising amounts of residential freight- onlline shopping thought to be environmentally freindly
       • Sustainability transition: long term, multidimensional, fundamental transformation processses, ---> establish social-technical shift to more sustainable modes of production and consumption..
   • Scientific Knowledge
     • what we know about the negative externalities of transport, GHG emissions, social inequalites, air polluution, health outcomes. NZ Lots of car accidents plus GHGS from vechiles
     • Carbon intensity
       • Emission Intensity: How much carbon it uses, relative to how many people it can move... Air travel most intensive- and we know little about the effects of air travel-eg impacts on stratosphere.
       • Low Carbon System
         • Charecteristics - making best possible choices to reduce carbon intesity of transport system- Active transport and public tranpoty prioritiesed, single occupancy systems last resort- opposite of current transport system..

6. Policy: Assumes that humans are rational beings- eg pricing and providing sufficiant information.

   • Behavioural Economics
     • Humans not strictly rational - make decisions based on shortcuts etc.
     • Dual Process: Rational: Makes decisions in considered manner. Automatic: range of subconcious processes.. allow fast response to environment, or habitual responses.
     • Benefits of being energy efficiant- short term costs- long term gain, people more concerned about the costs, than recognising gains in future..
     • What works? FeedbacK- good at understanding own behaviour- working towards goals- can be direct (shows consumption) or indirect (Detailed past consumption reports)
     • Comparitive feedback: Can be big motivater- comparing with neighbors been seen to work- study where pamphlets handed in neighorhood with 4 diff messages- money saving, environmental message, being a good person, or message saying what neighbours were doing- - Has been apps and websites developed comparing people to neighbors, a lot of energy has been saved..
     • Defaults- people go with easier option, defauls/ presets- setting defaults at a lower setting..
     • Context: SImplier, easier messsages more likely to be to be registered... trigger points such as moving house--'fresh starts'
     • Audits: Personal message from auditor: material changes or behavioural changes- useful with educating people on what kind of changes they can make.. If people dont know how to do something they wont...
     • Social Norms: Sociatal behaviour really influential.. - social processes critical to widespread adoption of pro-environmnental behaviours..
     • Community: sharing knowledge within a community effective in increasing understanding about energy, and also changing social norms, With effective leadership - works best
     • Extrinsic Vs Intrinsic motivation.
       • Extrinsic: Dependent on response of others- reward and avoidance of punishment.. Intrinsic: inherent worth eg sense of self/community- concerned with things greater than self-
       • Intrinsic- associated with long term behaviour change- and intrinsic values associated with greater concern for the environment. Values not only thing that determines behaviour..
     • Toyota Prius
       • As well as hybrid technologies, has on screen dashboard that lets you know how efficiantly you are driving
     • Solar
       • Use electricity where it is produucced- less line losses and wastage, producing own energy- encourages greater awresness of use.
       • IN NZ: Uptake of PV is increasing Motivated by independence/ self suffiancy lack of trust in rising energy prices reduced outgoings in retirement resiliance- powercuts and/or natural disasters.
       • Finacial Lower prices leading to rising uptake- PV increases property value Value for money= Financial return + other benefits eg environmental.
       • Barriers: High initial cost no clear vision of return of investment lack of financial incentives uncertainty around changing technologies.
     • eco-feedback technologies
       • Provide feedback to user with goal of reducing environmental impact.
       • Persuasive technology: People respond socially to computers Attractiveness, similarity,  identification emotional connection humans respond to avatars in similar way they would respond to other humans