Week 2 lecture 2 Flashcards
different ‘layers’ of electricity infrastructure entered the villages in time frames of a few decades.
Sometimes new infrastructural arrangements replaced existing ones, for example, after breakdown; at other times, new layers were constructed alongside what was already there
At the most basic level, we can identify three different kinds of rapid infrastructural change:
(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
supply vs. demand alternative
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?
‘electrification’ as a varied and situated process,
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.
meaning of electrification
bound up with the practicalities of specific infrastructural configurations, including state control and related systems and economics of provision.
it is the emergence of newly electrified practices that leads to
the ‘need’ for new infrastructure.
the ‘arrival’ of electricity means
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.
systems and technologies of supply are not simply outcomes or expressions of ‘large’ political-economic forces.
Rather, they are constituted and reproduced through the practices of different stakeholders, acting in relation to each other and their environment (Peck, 2004).
first large appliances to be acquired when electricity becomes available, and because televisions also figure as pervasive and powerful symbols of modernity
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
Introduction of light
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
socio-economic and demographic factors influenced
the changes in energy and CO2 requirements.
Temperature
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).
Education
key driving factor which positively influenced direct energy and CO2 requirements but negatively influenced the indirect energy and CO2 requirements.
Addressing consumption-based CO2 emissions, often called CO2 requirements
of households is key for developing a low carbon society.
World energy consumption is predicted
to increase by 28% between 2015 and 2040.
This is more prominent in non-OECD countries (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).
relationship between energy consumption and CO2 emissions
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
On the supply side,
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.
On the demand side,
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
build awareness regarding energy-saving through multimedia channels.
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
rebound-effect,
despite technological development, indirectly increases energy consumption in households when there are inefficient energy policies in households
For income variable, the main factor influencing private or individual consumption is the budget constraint.
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
Age
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
In recent years, the relationship between energy requirements/ emissions and the rate of urbanization has received considerable attention
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
Temperature
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.
The socio-economic and demographic factors
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.
Findings about factors
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.
Socio-economic factors
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).
Factors to take into consideration:
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
Three questions:
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)
Inequalities:
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
Energy poverty:
more than 10% of income spent on energy; total income less than 14 000 euros per year (based on energy consumption not requirements)
How would greater efficiency help? How would PT approach help?
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
• Energy consumption
direct
• ‘power’ being consumed from
primary energy
Energy requirements
direct and indirect
• direct and ‘embodied
Retrofit:
\: 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’)
In UK (gov’t stats) FUEL poverty
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
The built environment:
defining it
• 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
average annual electricity by dwelling type
most to least: detached house bungalow semi-detached end terrace flat mid terrace
