Rebound and Spillovers: Prosumers in Transition

Abstract

Generating energy by renewable sources like wind, sun or water has led to the emergence of “clean” energy that is generally available at low cost to the environment and is generated from seemingly unbounded resources. Many countries have implemented schemes to support the diffusion of renewable energies. The diffusion of micro-generation technologies like roof-top photovoltaics is one of the success stories within the energy transition and has been significantly driven—at least in countries such as Germany—by households. As these households usually not only generate energy but also consume it they are often called “prosumers.” How does it influence the energy behavior of households if they become prosumers? Are these behavioral changes in line with further goals of the energy transition, e.g., reducing demand? What shapes individual behaviors of prosumers? The paper introduces a conceptual framework based on the existing literature on rebound and spillover effects. It systematizes possible behavioral consequences as well as mechanisms behind them. This framework is then used to code and analyze data from 48 in-depth interviews with prosumer households. These interviews reveal a broad variety of behavioral responses which have their roots in economic conditions and their evaluation by the prosumers, psychological mechanisms like central guiding principles and a clear conscience as well as sociotechnical context and legislative frameworks.

Energy sufficiency: Conceptual considerations, modeling, and scenarios for less energy consumption

“…Prosumers practicing load shifting, i.e., moving power consumption into the sunny hours of the day when solar PV output is greatest, and those effectively using smart metering techniques are examples of energy-conscious behavioral changes in the other direction. Galvin (2020) and Dütschke et al (2021) provide empirical findings on the significance of this prosumer group that comprehensively monitors energy consumption. Studies show that using extensive feedback systems can generally lead to decreases in energy consumption of 8 to 12 % (Dromaque and Grigoriou 2018;Gährs et al 2021).…”

Moral-psychological mechanisms of rebound effects from a consumer-centered perspective: A conceptualization and research directions

“…Based on the concept of moral licensing, rebound effects can also be stimulated by moral-psychological mechanisms (e.g., Santarius et al, 2016;Dütschke et al, 2018Dütschke et al, , 2021Santarius and Soland, 2018;Sorrell et al, 2020;Reimers et al, 2021). Consumers might believe that they have done something good for the environment if they switch to a consumption alternative involving less greenhouse gas emissions.…”

“…Also, there is a number of empirical literature on spillover effects in the context of pro-environmental or climaterelevant behavior, mainly not considering the underlying psychological mechanisms (for a review see Maki et al, 2019;Geiger et al, 2021). Empirical studies on moral licensing in the context of pro-environmental or climate-relevant behavior are scarce (Phipps et al, 2013;Dütschke et al, 2018Dütschke et al, , 2021Reimers et al, 2021). The literature on moral licensing offers fewer studies where the both sequential (im)moral actions are connected to consumption decisions (e.g., Catlin and Wang, 2013;Meijers et al, 2019;Burger et al, 2022) and thus allow to differentiate between same and different categories and contexts (for an extensive literature review, see Sorrell et al, 2020;Reimers et al, 2021).…”

“…Moral-psychological mechanisms can, however, also stimulate rebound effects on the consumer level. However, as outlined by the few exceptions of conceptual papers that started discussing these effects (e.g., Dütschke et al, 2018Dütschke et al, , 2021Sorrell et al, 2020;Reimers et al, 2021), these effects have thus far been largely ignored in empirical research. The concept of moral licensing (Merritt et al, 2010;Mullen and Monin, 2016) has recently emerged as a promising theoretical foundation for the moral-psychological mechanisms.…”

Prosuming – energy sufficiency and rebound effects: Climate impact of changing household consumption patterns in Germany

“…PV prosuming not only influences the electrical energy mix in the household, it can also lead to behavioral changes influencing energy consumption patterns (Dütschke et al 2021;Galvin 2020). On the one hand, these changes can occur in the form of rebound effects, which we define in this context as increases in energy consumption subsequent to an increase in renewable energy use (Galvin et al 2021).…”