Week 2 lecture 2

Question 1

different ‘layers’ of electricity infrastructure entered the villages in time frames of a few decades.

Answer 1

Sometimes new infrastructural arrangements replaced existing ones, for example, after breakdown; at other times, new layers were constructed alongside what was already there

Question 2

At the most basic level, we can identify three different kinds of rapid infrastructural change:

Answer 2

(1) the development of new transmission lines, sewage systems and roads where there was nothing before;
(2) the upgrading of infrastructure, referring to situations in which infrastructures are replaced by newer, bigger or otherwise improved systems;
(3) the breakdown of infrastructure, either temporary or permanent, in which the system is suddenly or gradually no longer available. This chapter deals mainly with the first and the third kind

Question 3

supply vs. demand alternative

Answer 3

the subtleties of the social and environmental costs and benefits of specific infrastructural projects;

and of how material innovations work out in practice – which areas of daily life are affected, which are not, and how do changes in what people do figure in the future constitution of demand?

Question 4

‘electrification’ as a varied and situated process,

Answer 4

characteristics of which depend on how existing practices and conventions are modified, on a range of appliance-practice relations, and on institutional arrangements through which electricity is provided and through which it has effect in daily life.

Question 5

meaning of electrification

Answer 5

bound up with the practicalities of specific infrastructural configurations, including state control and related systems and economics of provision.

Question 6

it is the emergence of newly electrified practices that leads to

Answer 6

the ‘need’ for new infrastructure.

Question 7

the ‘arrival’ of electricity means

Answer 7

these material arrangements change, often leading to the requirement for more materials (e.g., more light bulbs, bigger televisions), which in turn triggers the need for more or bigger systems of provision.

Question 8

systems and technologies of supply are not simply outcomes or expressions of ‘large’ political-economic forces.

Answer 8

Rather, they are constituted and reproduced through the practices of different stakeholders, acting in relation to each other and their environment (Peck, 2004).

Question 9

first large appliances to be acquired when electricity becomes available, and because televisions also figure as pervasive and powerful symbols of modernity

Answer 9

s, people are rarely alone in the living room (the key space in which the television is located), a feature which makes watching television part of a broader set of social relations

Indeed, it would often be the head of the village, or people of the local elite (e.g., members of the village committee) who would be the first to get a television.

However, actively watching is not the only mode of ‘viewing’. In some of the households that were observed, the television was often on in the background, just to break the silence or because it was considered ‘normal’

This form of watching happened in the two villages, especially when the electricity tariffs became less significant, either because they reduced, or because they became a smaller part of a household’s disposable income

Question 10

Introduction of light

Answer 10

Before the availability of an electric infrastructure, people in Nam Ka and Mae Kampong would live, work and read by daylight, or by the light of open fires or candles.

Relying on non-electric light sources calls for a range of related skills including those involved in maintaining and trimming candles, or in keeping a fire alight, both of which generally give a lower quantity and quality of light than that provided by an electric bulb

One of the clear benefits of having access to electricity, and one often mentioned in interviews in Mae Kampong, was the option to continue working at night, and especially to continue work on preparing miang tea, which is traditionally one of the main economic activities in the village. The villagers would pick the tea leaves during the day, steam them in the late afternoon for several hours and then sort and package them during the evening.

In detail, the meaning of ‘good’ or sufficient light was not an abstract concept: rather it was related to the types of light-demanding activities involved. For example, interviewees’ indicated that the meaning of ‘necessary’ light, meaning the minimum amount required to read or work during the night, is flexible and changed over time

In the two case study villages, people would often start with one or two light bulbs, typically one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom. As they got more used to electric lighting, they would – if their budget and the systems allowed for it – expand the number and types of lights, for example, having a light outside, installing CFL lights, and so on. In this way, the availability of an electric infrastructure apparently led to a ‘ratcheting’ of demand, as new ideas about the ‘normal’ amount of light took hold (Shove, 2003).

y. As a result, the village was divided in two groups, those with and those without effective access to electricity. In this way, the rapid change in electricity infrastructure (and associated institutions of pricing and provision) had a profound influence on the unequal social distribution of electrified practices

Question 11

socio-economic and demographic factors influenced

Answer 11

the changes in energy and CO2 requirements.

Question 12

Temperature

Answer 12

is the most significant factor influencing energy and CO2 requirements (a 1 °C increase in temperature resulted in a 200% increase in energy and CO2 requirements).

Question 13

Education

Answer 13

key driving factor which positively influenced direct energy and CO2 requirements but negatively influenced the indirect energy and CO2 requirements.

Question 14

Addressing consumption-based CO2 emissions, often called CO2 requirements

Answer 14

of households is key for developing a low carbon society.

Question 15

World energy consumption is predicted

Answer 15

to increase by 28% between 2015 and 2040.

This is more prominent in non-OECD countries (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

Question 16

relationship between energy consumption and CO2 emissions

Answer 16

Numerous studies have shown a close and positive relationship between energy consumption and CO2 emissions (e.g. (DEDE, 1995, 2000))

A large part of these CO2- emitting energy carriers, such as oil and electricity, are consumed in the residential sectors globally, including in Thailand

However, a household not only consumes energy directly (e.g., charcoal, fuel wood, electricity, and petroleum products) but also indirectly i.e., embodied in goods and services such as food, beverage, education and others

Question 17

On the supply side,

Answer 17

the goal of the plan for the demand of final energy consumption is 131,000 tons of oil equivalent (ktoe) in all sectors by 2036. The key features of the plan are determination of the Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) for large energy business, to implement energy conservation measures encouraging their customers in household to use energy efficiently.

Question 18

On the demand side,

Answer 18

the plan calls for mandatory energy efficiency labeling to provide options for consumers to use high energy-efficient appliances, including refrigerators, air conditions, and water heaters that are mostly used in the residential sector

Question 19

build awareness regarding energy-saving through multimedia channels.

Answer 19

These are operational measures to shape consumption behavior of people and include, for example, promoting the use of LED lights to take place of traditional lights

Question 20

rebound-effect,

Answer 20

despite technological development, indirectly increases energy consumption in households when there are inefficient energy policies in households

Question 21

For income variable, the main factor influencing private or individual consumption is the budget constraint.

Answer 21

In other words, a richer person always has more purchasing power than a poorer person.

Likewise, in terms of energy requirements, the income level and energy requirements including emissions has a positive correlation

Moreover, income level does not only relate to expenditure, but it also relates to the type of house and education of the head of household as a strong correlation

Question 22

Age

Answer 22

Age of head of household is an influencing factor that influences energy requirements and related CO2 emissions. Such households where the head of household is older normally consume more energy than the contrary (Lenzen et al., 2006; Pachauri, 2004).

Age has a positive effect on energy requirements and emissions in both developed countries, such as Australia and Denmark, as well as in developing countries, such as India (Lenzen et al., 2006).

Likewise, for the age of the head of household, the lifestyle is a major factor since the relationship between the age of household-head is negatively correlated with indirect energy requirements. The elderly population in Thailand spend more time at home than young people resulting in less consumption of goods and services thereby reducing indirect energy requirements; logically this was opposite in the case of direct energy requirements and related direct CO2 emissions. The elderly spent more time at home; for example, watching television and sleeping in comfort, so they consume more electricity, but not for transportation.7

Question 23

In recent years, the relationship between energy requirements/ emissions and the rate of urbanization has received considerable attention

Answer 23

There is a difference in the meaning of “urbanity” (urbanization, or growing populations in urban areas) across countries.

The correlation between the energy requirements of households and urbanity was negative in the case of developing countries including India

However, the results of both studies were similar; that the increasing rate of urbanization is negatively correlated with the energy requirements. Basically, the change of direction for energy requirements is the same direction as related to CO2 emissions.

It means that as the rate of urbanization increases, the more that people consume concentrated supplies of energy, such as electricity and heating leading to more efficient utilization of power plants and concentrated heating systems than in rural areas (Jin and Kim, 2018).

Urbanization also affects the type of house indirectly because households that live in urban areas usually live in smaller houses such as flats/apartments and condominiums

Question 24

Temperature

Answer 24

The coefficient for an average temperature prevailing in the household is positive. This implies that increases in temperature, on average, leads to increases in direct energy consumption and the associated increases in direct CO2 emissions

In the case of indirect energy requirements and related CO2 emissions, the temperature factor still plays a vital role in influencing energy requirements and CO2 emissions. The increase in temperature on average is a strongly statistically significant variable. If the average temperature rises by 1 °C, the indirect energy requirements and associated CO2 emissions increases by about 200%.

The increase of temperature affects the energy requirements and CO2 emissions very strongly in Thai households. The number of cooling equipment used in households grew sharply, especially the air-conditioners. The number of air-conditioners sold increased from 0.6 million units in 2006 to 1.8 million units annually in 2016 (TCIJ, 2018). Moreover, the number of air-conditioners used in households doubled from 2007 to 2015 (NSO, 2015a). The estimation of electricity demand by the Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand (EGAT) showed that the temperature increase by 1 °C shifts electricity demand up by 400 MW (EGAT, 2017). This information confirms the results of this study that indicates that a significant temperature change affects energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the household both in the energy sector and non-energy sector.

Question 25

The socio-economic and demographic factors

Answer 25

obtained from previous studies and considered in this study were: household income, the interaction of family members in a household and the number of rooms, head of household’s education, head of household’s age, the average temperature of particular province containing individual households which were studied, urbanization, and the type of house.

Question 26

Findings about factors

Answer 26

For energy requirements and related CO2 emissions of households, our study showed that the climate factor, represented by average temperature, is a strong positive driving factor of both direct and indirect energy requirements and CO2 emissions.

The lifestyle of people in households reflected by income, the number of members in a household together with the number of rooms, and type of house also positively influenced the direct and indirect energy requirements and related CO2 emissions of Thailand’s households.

Both age and education of the head of household positively influenced direct energy requirements and CO2 emissions, and education negatively influenced indirect energy requirements and CO2 emissions. Thus, age is not a significant factor influencing indirect energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

Question 27

Socio-economic factors

Answer 27

income, type of house or building, interaction of household size and number of rooms, head of household’s education, and urbanization

Therefore, these factors are related to each other. People who live in urban areas tend to be better educated and live in a flat, apartment or condominium (not a detached house).

Question 28

Factors to take into consideration:

Answer 28

Practices

Sustainability/renewability

People in the house

Size of the house

Electronic devices

Income

Urban/rural

Lifestyle

Environment, climate

Insolation

Traditional/modern energy

Direct/indirect consumption

Question 29

Three questions:

Answer 29

What would be the boundaries?(e.g. economic factors like above)

How is the home structured? (how many rooms, what is the infrastructure)

How do we know? (where does the data come from)

Question 30

Inequalities:

Answer 30

poorer people are paying disproportionately for energy

unequal access to energy and low human development are highly
correlated (UNDP, 2007)

• higher upfront investments in energy efficient equipment are more
difficult to bear for low income households

Question 31

Energy poverty:

Answer 31

more than 10% of income spent on energy; total income less than 14 000 euros per year (based on energy consumption not requirements)

Question 32

How would greater efficiency help? How would PT approach help?

Answer 32

How would greater efficiency help? - subsidies, hold landlords responsible

How would PT approach help? We would need to analyze what are the practices with the highest energy demand, which practices do they engage with

Question 33

• Energy consumption

Answer 33

direct
• ‘power’ being consumed from
primary energy

Question 34

Energy requirements

Answer 34

direct and indirect

• direct and ‘embodied

Question 35

Retrofit:

Answer 35

\: to provide a building with equipment it did not have when
originally built
Example: radical retrofit
• Typically for energy saving
• Example: double/triple glazing
• Sometimes not allowed
• Example: heritage homes (‘monument’)

Question 36

In UK (gov’t stats) FUEL poverty

Answer 36

In 2017
• 2.53 million fuel-poor households in England,
10.9% of the total.
• Low Income High Costs (LIHC) indicator:
• they have required fuel costs that are
above average (the national median
level)
• were they to spend that amount, they
would be left with a residual income
below the official poverty line

Question 37

The built environment:

defining it

Answer 37

• Constructions and infrastructures (roads, electricity
networks, waste disposal, metro networks, etc)
• All buildings, spaces and products that are created
or modified by people
• Affect indoor and outdoor space,
and physical and social environments

Question 38

average annual electricity by dwelling type

Answer 38

most to least: 
detached house
bungalow
semi-detached
end terrace
flat
mid terrace