The aim of the project is to study the energy behaviour of private households by interdisciplinary research. We address the role of individual and socially structured human behaviour and will bridge empirical observations with a modelling framework capturing human energy choices in interaction with the energy system. We will evaluate various instruments that can narrow the gap between consumer implementation of energy efficiency, flexible energy use and new technology, and their techno-economic potentials respectively. Further, their corresponding value and impact on the energy system will be addressed and quantified. To reach this ambitious goal, the project draws on a novel combination of disciplines; psychology, science and technology studies, agent-based modelling, and energy system analysis.
The outcome of the project is two-fold. First, the results will strengthen the decision support for e.g. the public sector, industry sector, and consumer representatives by addressing how energy behaviour can be changed to be more cost-effective from an energy system perspective. Second, the project will strengthen the competence of Norwegian research institutions, public authorities and industrial actors by further developing methodologies for interdisciplinary research on energy behaviour, extending energy system modelling by providing a defined interface in energy system models for a representation of the highly complex consumer perspective.
BEHAVIOUR will include an initial trans-disciplinary analysis of the energy behaviour measures that are listed below. For each measure we will address under what conditions there is a gap between the consumer behaviour and the techno-economic implementation. Further we will analyse how various instruments can narrow these gaps. Finally, we will quantify the energy system savings of the proposed instruments and evaluate the impact of the listed measures. After an initial analysis, the prioritizing for a deeper analysis and specific focus of the listed measures will be done in collaboration with the user and research group of the project.
- Building mass upgrade, e.g. isolating and change of windows
- Building appliances, e.g. installation and use of heat Pumps, PV and fuel fells
- Vehicle choices, e.g. purchase and use of electric vehicles (EVs)
- Flexible energy use, e.g. flexible EV charging and hot water tank heating
- Modal shift in transport, e.g. travel more by public transport and bike
- Modal shift in buildings; e.g. new buildings have a smaller area per capita
The primary objective of BEHAVIOUR is to map how the energy behaviour of private households can be changed to support a desirable development of a low-carbon energy system, and how this complex system of behaviours can be included in energy system modelling. To achieve this, the following secondary objectives have to be met: 1) to provide knowledge on the main drivers and barriers for sustainable implementation of energy efficiency, flexible energy use, and new technology in private households, 2) to develop a methodology for modelling the complexity of the consumer side and it’s relation and interface to energy system models, 3) to quantify the aggregated impact of consumer energy behaviour, and 4) to address the value and impact on the Norwegian energy system.
BEHAVIOUR will answer the project objectives by interdisciplinary research, addressing the role of human behaviour and society perspectives. The knowledge created will be transformed into an agent-based model to simulate the actions and interaction of individual and collective entities.
