Socially smart grids? A multi-criteria mapping of diverse stakeholder perspectives on smart energy futures in the United Kingdom

Inspiration from animal’s collective behavior for home energy demand management

“…Several studies have discussed visions and the need for an integrated approach that considers the different social, technical, and spatial levels in energy management, such as 'socially smart grids' [2,24], yet applications are still to be developed. Therefore, we propose that a successful collective home energy management system should have a nested hierarchical structure (see Figure 3) to enable a distributed control system and have several capabilities to be performed simultaneously between individuals and their environment, including (1) sensing and monitoring: the system must be able to sense and monitor a wide range of environmental, social, and internal cues to make informed decisions about energy consumption and production; this could include sensors for temperature, humidity, occupancy, activity levels, and energy consumption of appliances and devices, (2) communication and coordination: the system must be able to communicate and coordinate the energy use of different appliances and devices in the home to optimize comfort and reduce waste; this could include using algorithms to predict energy demand, coordinating the energy use of different appliances and devices, and adjusting energy consumption in response to changing conditions, (3) user feedback and control: the system should allow for user feedback and control to ensure that the energy management strategies are aligned with the preferences and needs of the household occupants; this could include user-friendly interfaces for monitoring and controlling energy use, as well as the ability to provide feedback on the system's performance, (4) adaptability and scalability: the system should be adaptable and scalable to accommodate changes in the home environment and the needs of the occupants over time; this could include the ability to learn from user feedback and adjust energy management strategies accordingly and integrate new devices and technologies as they become available.…”

“…Studies on home energy demand management have focused mainly on social, technical and, more recently, socio-technical aspects that are considered largely at the individual levels only [1]. However, emerging trends in social studies call for explorations across different social and spatial scales beyond the individual levels [2]. For these aspects to be considered simultaneously in decision-making, there is a need to develop an energy demand management model that specifically builds on social behaviors at both individual and community levels and their interaction with technology in different spatio-temporal contexts.…”

“…For these aspects to be considered simultaneously in decision-making, there is a need to develop an energy demand management model that specifically builds on social behaviors at both individual and community levels and their interaction with technology in different spatio-temporal contexts. Different possible pathways exist for the future of community-driven smart grids, where more open and responsive approaches are needed to enable implementation [2].…”

Scenarios of the alternative energetics development in the age of the fourth industrial revolution: Clean energy prospects and policy implications

“…( 2022), Matsunaga et al (2022), andSaikia et al (2020) write in their works that the mentioned contradiction can be overcome since high technologies of Industry 4.0 are not only high-performance but also energysaving. Hargreaves et al (2022), Kang and Reiner (2022) cite the relevant experience of particular countries that are leading in terms of the development of Industry 4.0 -the United Kingdom and China respectively -as evidence of this effect.…”

A socially intelligent approach to consumers’ collective capabilities in smart grids

“…However, there has been a lack of attention on understanding the factors that shape and influence the collective aspects of social relations in smart grids. A better understanding of social relations requires a greater analysis of collective behaviour and social coordination [23][24][25]. The capacity of consumers and collectives to engage in collaborative endeavours, share resources, and make collective decisions is critical to the effective operation of smart grids [24,26].…”