Conceptualising flexibility: Challenging representations of time and society in the energy sector*

Blue, Stanley John; Shove, Elizabeth; Forman, Peter

doi:10.1177/0961463x20905479

Cited by 47 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…With regard to the above-discussed types of criticisms, Blue, Shove, and Forman (2020) call for a reconceptualization of flexibility that more strongly involves critical reflection on the temporal structuration of society, and what it would mean to change the structuration in the future. Similar calls have also been made in the energy justice literature, where aspects such as social inequality in energy supply and demand have been questioned (e.g., Ingeborgrud et al 2020;Jenkins et al 2016;Powells and Fell 2019).…”

Section: Theorizing End-user Flexibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexibility poverty: ‘locked-in’ flexibility practices and electricity use among students

Fjellså

Ryghaug

Skjølsvold

2021

Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy

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The article provides a widened understanding of the concept of end-user flexibility and nuances the traditional individual-oriented approach often used in discussions on low carbon transitions. The authors draw on 75 narratives from of a group of end users that is often considered to be in a very flexible stage of life, namely students. They discuss the co-production of systems connected to material, structural and social factors that extend beyond individual willingness to be a flexible energy consumer. The article stresses that flexibility is shaped by living conditions, everyday life and social norms in particular ways that makes it hard to achieve for students and others living in shared households. The authors conclude that political incentives for low-carbon transitions typically exclude social groups such as students and other vulnerable groups in society, and hence may unintentionally create and reinforce what they term 'flexibility poverty'.

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Section: Theorizing End-user Flexibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexibility poverty: ‘locked-in’ flexibility practices and electricity use among students

Fjellså

Ryghaug

Skjølsvold

2021

Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy

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“…Within this, there is the assumption that all energy consumers within the city region will be able to make the required shifts in their energy practices, and become a "more responsible consumer" (GMCA, 2019), yet the different contexts of individuals may mean that engaging with DSM practices may not be possible for some. An individual's energy practices cannot be separated from the broader temporalities of their daily life and their specific context (Blue et al, 2020). As discussed by Shove and Walker (2017), energy demand is a product of the daily rhythms of life-for some, these rhythms and the contexts in which they are situated offer greater flexibility in energy practices, whilst for others they are constrained by them.…”

Section: Considering the Heterogeneity Of Actors-contextualized Actiomentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Regional Low-Carbon Energy Transitions in England: A Relational Perspective

Crowther

Petrova

Evans

2021

Front. Sustain. Cities

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Re-scaling energy systems and governance to the local level is increasingly necessary to transition to a low-carbon society. City region devolution in England enables city regions to develop their own approaches to low-carbon transitions that reflect the context in which they are situated. The approaches associated with these transitions support the localization of the energy system, the involvement of a diverse range of actors and institutions and the establishment of new supporting infrastructures. This paper considers the interactions between, and influence of, different actors, infrastructures and institutions and how these impact the nature of approaches developed by applying a relational perspective. Relational perspectives are increasingly prevalent in research on low-carbon transitions, although they have not been used to consider how different components of the transition influence the approaches developed—which is the focus of this paper. By understanding the influence of the different components, it supports the establishment of appropriate mechanisms to facilitate low-carbon transitions at the localized scale. This paper analyses the approaches to low-carbon transitions developed by three city regions with devolved powers in England. The approach developed by each of the city regions orientates around a different scale of focus—from the whole city region to strategic hubs to individualized, siloed activity. These different scales of focus reflect the influence held by the actors, institutions and infrastructures located within each city region. The context of the city region itself also influences the actors, institutions, and infrastructures present. By adopting a relational perspective, it unpacks the complex interrelations, the multiple points of interaction and influence, and the multi-scalar nature of low-carbon transitions at the city region level. Although the approaches to low-carbon transitions developed by the different city regions suggest a re-scaling of transition processes, the associated actors, infrastructures and institutions associated with these processes are not isolated from broader contexts and particularities of place. There are multi-scalar interactions and influences which impact the nature of approaches developed, demonstrating the value of relational and heterogeneous perspectives when developing localized approaches to low-carbon transitions.

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“…By understanding how occupants perform everyday practices, such as space heating, it thus become clearer how to understand and possibly transform energy related practices. This is important as energy flexibility cannot be abstracted from social practices and doing so actually risk interlocking and stabilizing current practices [31]. By investigating everyday practices, which smart home technologies target, this paper presents important knowledge on how space heating practices are performed and how they reconfigure in very different ways, depending on occupants competencies.…”

Section: Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Space Heating Becomes Digitalized: Investigating Competencies for Controlling Smart Home Technology in the Energy-Efficient Home

Larsen

Gram‐Hanssen

2020

Sustainability

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In the near future, renewable energy sources (RES) will make up an increasing share of energy production in the district heating grid, implying that utilities must enable energy flexibility in order to compensate for the intermittent nature of RES. Current initiatives rely on smart approaches, encouraging a flexible energy demand by integrating various demand-side-management technologies. While praised for their ‘smart’ capabilities, smart home technologies have also been criticized for not meeting their potential in terms of savings and flexibility. This paper examines space-heating practices in everyday life in 16 Danish households. The study relies on qualitative in-depth interviews and ‘show and tell’ tours within these homes. Results show how space-heating practices are reconfigured by embodied knowledge related to respectively space-heating and use of smart technology. This implies that occupants’ adaption to smart home technology is reconfigured by their previous experiences as well as the meanings they ascribed to their practices. By showing the different ways in which occupants ‘get to know’ smart home technology, results highlight forms of embodied knowledge which occupants habitually draw on when they heat their homes. Occupants learn and carry competences for conducting space heating throughout life, and interventions aimed at enabling a flexible energy demand need to consider this. As smart home technology is integrated in homes, interventions should consider embodied knowledge as part of occupants’ competences for controlling smart home technology, as this will impact the reconfiguration of (new) space heating practices.

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Conceptualising flexibility: Challenging representations of time and society in the energy sector*

Cited by 47 publications

References 38 publications

Flexibility poverty: ‘locked-in’ flexibility practices and electricity use among students

Flexibility poverty: ‘locked-in’ flexibility practices and electricity use among students

Toward Regional Low-Carbon Energy Transitions in England: A Relational Perspective

When Space Heating Becomes Digitalized: Investigating Competencies for Controlling Smart Home Technology in the Energy-Efficient Home

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