Brown, D, Hall, S and Davis, ME orcid.org/0000-0001-5886-4790 (2020) What is prosumerism for? Exploring the normative dimensions of decentralised energy transitions. Energy Research & Social Science, 66. 101475. ISSN 2214-6296
Abstract
Energy systems are in transformation towards increasingly renewable, decentralised, demand responsive and smart configurations. This has led to advocacy of the ‘prosumer’ phenomenon: characterised by actors who both consume and produce renewable energy. In parallel a range of prosumer business models are emerging, governed by a range of market, municipal and community actors. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and documentary analysis - centred on a case study of Bristol in the UK - this paper critically evaluates the normative dimensions of prosumer business models, modes of governance and understandings of value. We discuss how competing ‘value logics’ are present within imagined futures of prosumer-ism, and through a novel conceptual framework, how these modes of governance may lead to divergent material outcomes in a decentralised energy transition. We argue that a more explicit recognition of competing theories of value, agency and change is needed in future discussions of prosumer-ism.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Prosumers; Norms; Business models; Governance; Value; Transitions |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Sociology and Social Policy (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EU - European Union 764056 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 26 Mar 2020 14:16 |
Last Modified: | 26 Mar 2020 14:16 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.erss.2020.101475 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:158690 |