Does demand-side flexibility reduce emissions? Exploring the social acceptability of demand management in Germany and Great Britain
<p>The rapid uptake of renewable energy sources requires new forms of flexibility in electricity systems, including a more responsive demand-side. The social acceptability, scale and economic value of flexible demand remain subjects of conjecture. In this paper we inform this debate with a mul...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2021
|
| _version_ | 1826310269624647680 |
|---|---|
| author | Gleue, M Unterberg, J Löschel, A Grünewald, P |
| author_facet | Gleue, M Unterberg, J Löschel, A Grünewald, P |
| author_sort | Gleue, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>The rapid uptake of renewable energy sources requires new forms of flexibility in electricity systems, including a more responsive demand-side. The social acceptability, scale and economic value of flexible demand remain subjects of conjecture. In this paper we inform this debate with a multi-methods approach using three instruments: surveys, observations and modelling. This multi-method approach brings out similarities and differences between Germany and Great Britain in relation to demand-side flexibility. Participants in both countries express a high willingness to participate in time variant tariffs, but their implementation may need to be context specific.</p>
<p>In Germany national peak demand occurs at midday, when PV generation results in lower emission factors. Conversely, British peak demand is in the early evening when emission factors are at their highest. The differences in responses allow us to explore important technical and cultural differences affecting the need for flexibility. Germany gains most from flexibility during the daytime in summer, while flexibility in Great Britain contributes most during winter evenings. We observe high degrees of acceptability of time-variant electricity tariffs (55%) and willingness to shift demand is high, resulting in peak demand reductions of up to 14.5%. However, the resulting cost and carbon savings of these efforts is less than 2% in both countries. We conclude that short term carbon or cost savings may be less powerful motivators for load shifting measures than long term system decarbonisation.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:47:56Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:14c1a4e0-fddc-4a13-90f3-68848b444f54 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:47:56Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:14c1a4e0-fddc-4a13-90f3-68848b444f542023-06-30T14:21:06ZDoes demand-side flexibility reduce emissions? Exploring the social acceptability of demand management in Germany and Great BritainJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:14c1a4e0-fddc-4a13-90f3-68848b444f54EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2021Gleue, MUnterberg, JLöschel, AGrünewald, P<p>The rapid uptake of renewable energy sources requires new forms of flexibility in electricity systems, including a more responsive demand-side. The social acceptability, scale and economic value of flexible demand remain subjects of conjecture. In this paper we inform this debate with a multi-methods approach using three instruments: surveys, observations and modelling. This multi-method approach brings out similarities and differences between Germany and Great Britain in relation to demand-side flexibility. Participants in both countries express a high willingness to participate in time variant tariffs, but their implementation may need to be context specific.</p> <p>In Germany national peak demand occurs at midday, when PV generation results in lower emission factors. Conversely, British peak demand is in the early evening when emission factors are at their highest. The differences in responses allow us to explore important technical and cultural differences affecting the need for flexibility. Germany gains most from flexibility during the daytime in summer, while flexibility in Great Britain contributes most during winter evenings. We observe high degrees of acceptability of time-variant electricity tariffs (55%) and willingness to shift demand is high, resulting in peak demand reductions of up to 14.5%. However, the resulting cost and carbon savings of these efforts is less than 2% in both countries. We conclude that short term carbon or cost savings may be less powerful motivators for load shifting measures than long term system decarbonisation.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Gleue, M Unterberg, J Löschel, A Grünewald, P Does demand-side flexibility reduce emissions? Exploring the social acceptability of demand management in Germany and Great Britain |
| title | Does demand-side flexibility reduce emissions? Exploring the social acceptability of demand management in Germany and Great Britain |
| title_full | Does demand-side flexibility reduce emissions? Exploring the social acceptability of demand management in Germany and Great Britain |
| title_fullStr | Does demand-side flexibility reduce emissions? Exploring the social acceptability of demand management in Germany and Great Britain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does demand-side flexibility reduce emissions? Exploring the social acceptability of demand management in Germany and Great Britain |
| title_short | Does demand-side flexibility reduce emissions? Exploring the social acceptability of demand management in Germany and Great Britain |
| title_sort | does demand side flexibility reduce emissions exploring the social acceptability of demand management in germany and great britain |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gleuem doesdemandsideflexibilityreduceemissionsexploringthesocialacceptabilityofdemandmanagementingermanyandgreatbritain AT unterbergj doesdemandsideflexibilityreduceemissionsexploringthesocialacceptabilityofdemandmanagementingermanyandgreatbritain AT loschela doesdemandsideflexibilityreduceemissionsexploringthesocialacceptabilityofdemandmanagementingermanyandgreatbritain AT grunewaldp doesdemandsideflexibilityreduceemissionsexploringthesocialacceptabilityofdemandmanagementingermanyandgreatbritain |