WHAT DO SOCIOLOGISTS KNOW ABOUT
ENERGY, EVERYDAY PRACTICES AND
RENEWABLE ENERGY?
KIRSTEN GRAM- HANSSEN
S B I , A A L B O R G U N I V E R S I T Y- C O P E N H A G E N
1 2 TH
C O N F E R E N C E O F T H E E U R O P E A N S O C I O L O G I C A L A S S O C I AT I O N , E S A
P R A G U E 2 5 T H - 2 8 T H A U G U S T, 2 0 1 5 .
Understanding agency in the co-construction of everyday
practices and the energy system
•
Global climate and household
everyday practices closely related
•
Energy provision system and
household everyday practices are
co-constructed
•
Structure and agency in
understanding this
•
How to promote sustainable
transition?
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This presentation….
•
Historical approach to energy consumption/production
•
Practice theory as a way of conceptualising this
•
Understandings variations in households practices
•
Debating energy efficiency policies
Criticising the energy efficiency approach
and bring agency into practice theories
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Household appliances arrive
•
Push from electricity
companies and the authorities
•
Scepticism from the
housewives: against culture
and pride
•
The appliances arrive together
with the economic grow,
women's entrance on the
labour market and new urban
development
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Change in routines related to washing and food-preparation
• ‘When I got my own machine I really changed my washing habits. I washed
whenever there was something to wash’
•
‘When my husband started as an engineer, then we got a refrigerator. But I
still shopped from day to day. The major weekly shops first started with the
supermarkets and their tempting shelves’
From (Olesen and Thorndahl, 2004)
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New ICT solutions – in al aspects of everyday life
•
Strongly promoted by the state and
market
•
New infrastructures of
communication
•
Acquisition because of status or
fear of falling behind
•
Now they are all necessary for all
aspects of a normal life
•
A recent example of changing
practices – in the wrong direction
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(Røpke & Christensen, 2013;
Røpke, Christensen, Jensen 2010)
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Smart grid and households?
•
Renewables in the grid and a need
to balance production/consumption
•
New ICT possibilities and market
liberalisation
•
Intelligent system to improve
efficiency and integrate intermittent
energy sources
•
Feedback, load management,
peak shaving and “prosumers”
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Rational resource man – Utopia or Dystopia?
•
Rational resource man do not exist
•
Feedback only provide limited
interest and savings
•
Practices are interlinked and thus
not time flexible
•
… but history show that our
practices do change together the
provision system..
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(Nyborg & Røpke, 2013; Strengers, 2012, 2013;
Hargreaves et al 2010,2013; Darby, 2010; Walker,
2014…..)
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Learnings on everyday life and the energy system
•
Co-production of energy systems and everyday practices in all cases
•
Unconscious everyday life routines interlinked with infrastructural changes
in the energy production system
•
Everyday practices neither “just natural” nor individually chosen
•
Changes in households energy consumption must be understood together
with changes in social, cultural and technological structures
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Sociology of consumption, STS and energy
•
Cultural approaches to consumption…
•
Ordinary consumption: the routinized and
technology bound
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STS & ANT to include technologies
•
Practice theory
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The basis of practice theory
N o t a c o m m o n l y a g r e e d u p o n t h e o r y, b u t a t h e o r y i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t …
•
Practices at the centre of understanding the social
•
Practices are collective, practitioners are carriers
•
Examples of practices: cooking and laundering
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“Sayings” and “doings” which are hold together…
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Holding practices together:
Schatzki,1996
Reckwitz, 2002
Warde, 2005
Shove/Pantzar, 2005
Shove et al, 2012…..
Gram-Hanssen,
2010, 2011
Practical
understanding
Body
Understandings
Competences
Know-how,
embodied habits
Mind
The agent
Rules
Structure/process
Procedures
Institutionalised
knowledge and rules
Teleo-affective
structures
Knowledge
Discourse/language
Engagement
Meanings
Engagements
Things
Items of
consumption
Products
Technology and
infrastructure
General
Understandings
(2002)
Insights from practice theory
• Embodiment of practices links the individual performance
wi t h t h e c o l l e c t i v e e n t i t i e s o f p r a c t i c e s
• Practices, and the embodied habits carry the history of
material, cultural and social structures
• P r a c t i c e s c o n n e c t t o e a c h o t h e r i n t h e e v e r yd a y l i f e
• S yn c h r o n i s a t i o n i n t h e t i m e o f c a r r yi n g t h r o u g h p r a c t i c e s
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Energy consumption, is not a practice
• … . b u t a p r e r e q u i s i t e f o r, a n d a b i - p r o d u c t o f m a n y d i ff e r e n t
practices
• Laundering, cooking, computer gaming…. are practices
• Each of these energy consuming practices are “hold
t o g e t h e r ” b y q u i t e d i ff e r e n t e l e m e n t s
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Change and variation in energy consumption
• Change in energy consumption over time – a predominant
form of practice theoretical energy studies
• S t u d yi n g v a r i a t i o n i n p r a c t i c e s – a m o r e “ c l a s s i c a l ”
sociological consumption approach
• D e b a t i n g s t r u c t u r e a n d a g e n c y t o g e t h e r wi t h v a r i a t i o n s … .
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Variation in energy consumption
Combining socio-economy, energy
consumption and building data:
• Indirect factors: Type of house and
household reflects socio-economy
• Direct factors : High status families
consumes more, independent of
building and household type
• Unconscious consumption
following from everyday practices
are also socially structured
(Hansen, forthcoming)
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Different families – different practices
“Type”
Heat (kWh/year)
Family 1
“Hot, cosy and easy ”
14600
Family 2
“Fresh air and enjoy life”
14000
Family 3
“Concerned but it is not that easy” 10300
Family 4
“Want to save and know how”
4900
Family 5
“Just habits and a little concern”
4000
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Understanding variation as embodied
socio-material configurations
K n o w- h o w a n d h a b i t s
• D i ff e r e n c e s i n e x p e r i e n c e s wi t h c o m f o r t
K n o wl e d g e - R u l e s
• D i ff e r e n c e s i n k n o wl e d g e f r o m m a n y d i ff e r e n t s o u r c e s :
Engagements
• D i ff e r e n c e s i n t h e m e a n i n g o f c o m f o r t
• E n e r g y s a v i n g ( e c o n o m y, e c o l o g y)
Te c h n o l o g y – t h e s a m e i n a l l f a m i l i e s
• D i ff e r e n t d o m e s t i c a t i o n
Both agency and structure in these variations
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EU - Energy policy: efficiency, efficiency, efficiency!
• E ff i c i e n c y d i r e c t i v e s
• Energy labels on appliances
and buildings
• Buildings regulations on
e ff i c i e n c y
• Incentives to promote
e ff i c i e n t t e c h n o l o g i e s a n d
retrofitting
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Energy efficiency is not enough when the number
of appliances continues to grow…
kWh/year
1000 units
Energy statistics, Danish Energy Agency, 2013
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Efficient homes versus heating practices….
Based on 230.200 detached
Danish houses with an energy
label.
Please note: this figure is
preliminary. Do not cite or reuse
without permission by the author.
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Heat pumps and rebound effect
Change from direct electric
heating to heat pumps:
• 20% of potential savings were
used for improved comfort
New technologies go together
with changes in practices – A
technology is not energy saving
in it self
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EFFICIENCY IS NOT ENOUGH
ACTORS ALSO NEED TO BE ENGAGED IN
SUSTAINABILITY OR SAVINGS
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Holding practices together:
Schatzki,1996
Reckwitz, 2002
Warde, 2005
Shove/Pantzar, 2005
Shove et al, 2012
Gram-Hanssen,
2010, 2011
Practical
understanding
Body
Understandings
Competences
Know-how,
embodied habits
Mind
The agent
Rules
Structure/process
Procedures
Institutionalised
knowledge and rules
Teleo-affective
structures
Knowledge
Discourse/language
Engagement
Meanings
Engagements
Things
Items of
consumption
Products
Technology and
infrastructure
General
Understandings
(2002)
Practice theory and sustainable transitions……
Changing, developing or substituting practices …..
Policy on Technologies and infrastructure
Public funding of technology R&D
• N o w: f o c u s i s o n e n e r g y e ff i c i e n c y.
• Change to technologies that support low consuming
practices
• Include users in technology development
Public planning of the build environment – think about
wh a t p r a c t i c e s a r e s h a p e d b y…
• Urban planning and transport
• Infrastructures of provision
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Policy on Knowledge and rules
E.G. Building regulations have been strong in promoting
low-energy buildings
•
What building regulations includes practices?
•
Buildings which sustain sustainable practices rather
than just being efficient
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Policy on Know-how and habits
Energy policy focus on habits, is often about changing “bad”
habits. More relevant would be:
•
N u d g i n g : Te c h n o l o g i e s a n d m a t e r i a l s t r u c t u r e s w h i c h
guides habits: Make it easy to do the right!
•
Learning processes developing know-how - trying out new
practices through demo-project etc.
•
Include the provision side as sustainable instructors when
selling, installing etc.
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Policy on Engagements,
Public campaigns, taxis and subsidiaries, support of
community projects and public learning projects etc.
• LA21: Is all this forgotten?
• N o t f o c u s i n g o n b u yi n g e ff i c i e n t , b u t o n b u yi n g
l e s s , l i v i n g s m a l l e r, t u r n i n g d o wn … . .
Public campaigns are often doing the opposite
• The actor perspective needs to be part of this
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Policy to influence practices?
• A l l t h e we l l - k n o wn p o l i c y m e a n s … .
• Wo r k s i m u l t a n e o u s wi t h s e v e r a l e l e m e n t
• C h a n g e f r o m e ff i c i e n c y t o l e s s c o n s u m p t i o n
• Developing and substituting practices
• Including actively engaged actors
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Thank you for you attention,
kgh@sbi.aau.dk
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