What smart grids tell about innovation narratives in the European Union: Hopes, imaginaries and policy

Vesnić-Alujević, Lucia; Breitegger, Melina; Pereira, Ângela Guimarães

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2015.11.011

Cited by 52 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Such recognition can resoundingly close public discourse and perception of smart grids as necessarily harbingers of sustainability (Ballo 2015), and problematise prevalent state narratives by inserting citizen concerns into the public debate (see Vesnic-Alujevic et al 2016). It can turn focus towards the potential for automation and dynamic tariffs to contribute to mitigation efforts by streamlining policies and political economic factors towards greater grid flexibility and renewables integration (see Sareen and Kale 2018).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smart gridlock? Challenging hegemonic framings of mitigation solutions and scalability

Sareen

Rommetveit

2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Urban energy transitions are key components of urgently requisite climate change mitigation. Promissory discourse accords smart grids pride of place within them. We employ a living lab to study smart grids as a solution geared towards upscaling and systematisation, investigate their limits as a climate change mitigation solution, and assess them rigorously as urban energy transitions. Our 18 month living lab simulates a household energy management platform in Bergen. Norway's mitigation focus promotes smart meter roll-out as reducing carbon emissions, by (i) unlocking efficiency gains, and (ii) increasing awareness for demand-side management. We problematise this discourse. Raising awareness encounters intractable challenges for smart grid scalability. Scattered efficiency gains constitute modest increments rather than the substantial change requisite for rapid mitigation. Whereas promissory smart grid discourse overlooks these ground-truthed limits, our findings caution against misplaced expectations concerning mitigation. We contest discursive enthusiasm on smart grids and argue for aligning local and systemic concerns before upscaling to avoid obscuring risks. Scaling up requires understanding and addressing interdependencies and trade-offs across scales. Focus group discussions and surveys with living lab participants who used sub-meter monitors to track real-time household electricity consumption data over an extended period show that technical issues and energy behaviour, as well as political economic and policy structures and factors, pose significant limits to smart grids. Urban strategies for climate change mitigation must be informed by this recognition. Our results indicate that upscaling relies on bottom-up popular acceptance of the salient technical, organisational and standardisation measures, but that measures to improve the democratic legitimacy of and participation in energy transitions remain weak. We highlight limits to smart grids as a standalone urban mitigation solution and call for a sharper focus on accompanying thrust areas for systematisation and scalability, such as renewable energy integration and grid coordination.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smart gridlock? Challenging hegemonic framings of mitigation solutions and scalability

Sareen

Rommetveit

2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…Over 90% of South Africa's electricity is generated from its coal-fired thermal power stations; 5% is generated from nuclear power plants, i.e., the Koeberg nuclear power station in Cape Town; and a further 5% of electricity is generated in hydroelectric power stations. However, there are only a few economic hydro sites that could be used for significant power generation in South Africa [147]. Approximately 52,017 MW of electricity are generated in South Africa, out of which 42,691 MW are generated from the combustion of fossil fuels, like coal.…”

Section: Power Generation In South Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whereas in the latter, the absorption of CO 2 from the flue gas depends on the acid-base neutralization reaction using basic solvents [142][143][144][145]. The most commonly-used solvents for absorption of CO 2 from flue gases are basically amines [146], chilled methanol [147] and ammonia solution [148]. Even though the absorption technology is considered as a mature technology for CO 2 capture, the use of solvents for this technology makes it corrosive and energy intensive due to high energy demands during solvent regeneration, and it is also expensive.…”

Section: Absorptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Potential of CO2 Capture and Storage Technology in South Africa’s Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plants

Yoro

Sekoai

2016

Environments

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Abstract:The global atmospheric concentration of anthropogenic gases, such as carbon dioxide, has increased substantially over the past few decades due to the high level of industrialization and urbanization that is occurring in developing countries, like South Africa. This has escalated the challenges of global warming. In South Africa, carbon capture and storage (CCS) from coal-fired power plants is attracting increasing attention as an alternative approach towards the mitigation of carbon dioxide emission. Therefore, innovative strategies and process optimization of CCS systems is essential in order to improve the process efficiency of this technology in South Africa. This review assesses the potential of CCS as an alternative approach to reducing the amount CO 2 emitted from the South African coal-fired power plants. It examines the various CCS processes that could be used for capturing the emitted CO 2 . Finally, it proposes the use of new adsorbents that could be incorporated towards the improvement of CCS technology.

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“…As proposed by previous research, smart grid advocates imagine that users transform, leaving their current passivity behind to take on a more active role in the future energy system (Geelen et al, 2013;Goulden et al, 2014;Verbong et al, 2013;Vesnic-Alujevic et al, 2016). Similar undertones are prevalent among Swedish smart grid advocates; for example, they appear in a report published by the Swedish governmental agency for innovation, Vinnova:…”

Section: Empowered and Active Electricity Usersmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The fact that smart grid propagators praise activeness is also recognized in previous research that show how such actors envision electricity users to take on a more active role in the future energy system (Geelen et al, 2013;Verbong et al, 2013;Vesnic-Alujevic et al, 2016). Smart grid advocates seem to praise this ideal of activeness; as if this is a main feature of the smart grid that justify its implementation (See Chapter 5).…”

Section: Justifying Activenessmentioning

confidence: 96%

Assembling the Smart Grid: On the Mobilization of Imaginaries, Users and Materialities in a Swedish Demonstration Project

Wallsten¹

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What smart grids tell about innovation narratives in the European Union: Hopes, imaginaries and policy

Cited by 52 publications

References 26 publications

Smart gridlock? Challenging hegemonic framings of mitigation solutions and scalability

Smart gridlock? Challenging hegemonic framings of mitigation solutions and scalability

The Potential of CO2 Capture and Storage Technology in South Africa’s Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plants

Assembling the Smart Grid: On the Mobilization of Imaginaries, Users and Materialities in a Swedish Demonstration Project

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