A mechanism to promote social behaviour in household load balancing

Reducing the peak energy consumption of households is essential for the effective use of renewable energy sources, in order to ensure that as much household demand as possible can be met by renewable sources. This entails spreading out the use of high-powered appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines throughout the day. Traditional approaches to this problem have relied on differential pricing set by a centralised utility company. But this mechanism has not been effective in promoting widespread shifting of appliance usage. Here we consider an alternative decentralised mechanism, where agents receive an initial allocation of timeslots to use their appliances and can then exchange these with other agents. If agents are willing to be more flexible in the exchanges they accept, then overall satisfaction, in terms of the percentage of agents’ time-slot preferences that are satisfied, will increase. This requires a mechanism that can incentivise agents to be more flexible. Building on previous work, we show that a mechanism incorporating social capital — the tracking of favours given and received — can incentivise agents to act flexibly and give favours by accepting exchanges that do not immediately benefit them. We demonstrate that a mechanism that tracks favours increases the overall satisfaction of agents, and crucially allows social agents that give favours to outcompete selfish agents that do not under payoffbiased social learning. Thus, even completely self-interested agents are expected to learn to produce socially beneficial outcomes

UK energy in a global context: synthesis report

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Smart grids : Another step towards competition, energy security and climate change objectives

International audienceThe deployment of smart grids in electricity systems has given rise to much interdisciplinary research. The new technology is seen as an additional instrument available to States to achieve targets for promoting competition, increasing the safety of electricity systems and combating climate change. But the boom in smart grids also raises many economic questions. Public policies will need to be adapted, firstly to make allowance for the potential gains from smart grids and the associated information flow, and secondly to regulate the new networks and act as an incentive for investors. The new competitive offerings and end-user pricing systems will contribute to improving allocative and productive efficiency, while minimizing the risks of market power. With real-time data on output and consumption, generators and consumers will be able to adapt to market conditions. Lastly smart grids will boost the development of renewable energy sources and new technologies, by assisting their integration and optimal use

Review of Serious Energy Games : Objectives, Approaches, Applications, Data Integration, and Performance Assessment

In recent years, serious energy games (SEGs) garnered increasing attention as an innovative and effective approach to tackling energy-related challenges. This review delves into the multifaceted landscape of SEG, specifically focusing on their wide-ranging applications in various contexts. The study investigates potential enhancements in user engagement achieved through integrating social connections, personalization, and data integration. Among the main challenges identified, previous studies overlooked the full potential of serious games in addressing emerging needs in energy systems, opting for oversimplified approaches. Further, these studies exhibit limited scalability and constrained generalizability, which poses challenges in applying their findings to larger energy systems and diverse scenarios. By incorporating lessons learned from prior experiences, this review aims to propel the development of SEG toward more innovative and impactful directions. It is firmly believed that positive behavior changes among individuals can be effectively encouraged by using SEG

SEEV4City INTERIM 'Summary of the State of the Art' report

This report summarizes the state-of-the-art on plug-in and full battery electric vehicles (EVs), smart charging and vehicle to grid (V2G) charging. This is in relation to the technology development, the role of EVs in CO2 reduction, their impact on the energy system as a whole, plus potential business models, services and policies to further promote the use of EV smart charging and V2G, relevant to the SEEV4-City project

A review of the behavioural change challenges facing a proposed solar and battery electric cooking concept

This paper evaluates the behaviour change aspects likely to affect the uptake of a proposed electric cooking concept, which consists of a simple battery and 500W electric hob. The battery storage enables households with unreliable electricity supplies to cook at a time that is convenient to them. The specific focus is on the potential uptake of the eCook concept within the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) context, although where appropriate the paper draws upon relevant examples from other parts of the Global South (and beyond) and also makes some commentary upon the potential prospects for electric cooking within these contexts. The paper is organised into two main sections. The first comprises a literature review focusing on a range of related energy transitions, with the aim of drawing out the key lessons learned and highlighting their relevance to the assumptions underlying the proposed eCook concept. The second section draws on the review of experiences presented in the first section to make recommendations for how the eCook concept might be taken forward in ways that make transition more likely. The main findings of this study indicate that the eCook concept offers significant potential for a transition towards emission free cooking, with time/money saving for adopters and broader environmental benefits from reductions in fuelwood collection/purchase of charcoal/wood. The high upfront cost is predicted to be the most significant barrier that will affect household uptake, however recent developments in micro-loans and fee-for-service business models (particularly when combined with mobile phones) have the potential to overcome this. In contrast to other technologies such as solar cookers, where the adaptation of cooking practices has been a substantial barrier, the behaviour change required to use an electric hob is relatively minimal. The paper considers where this transition is likely to take place first, how it can be supported and what further research needs to be conducted

Introducing Competition in the French Electricity Supply Industry: The Destabilisation of a Public Hierarchy in an Open Institutional Environment

The French electricity supply industry is characterized by a vertically integrated monopoly and public ownership and when the government introduced market rules, it was with the aim of preserving the integration of the public incumbent as a national champion. This had two paradoxical effects in favour of competition development and the building of safeguards for entrants