IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v111y2019icp184-196.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Conflicting values in the smart electricity grid a comprehensive overview

Author

Listed:
  • de Wildt, T.E.
  • Chappin, E.J.L.
  • van de Kaa, G.
  • Herder, P.M.
  • van de Poel, I.R.

Abstract

This paper aims to anticipate social acceptance issues related to the deployment of the smart electricity grid by identifying underlying value conflicts. The smart electricity grid is a key enabler of the energy transition. Its successful deployment is however jeopardized by social acceptance issues, such as concerns related to privacy and fairness. Social acceptance issues may be explained by value conflicts, i.e. the impossibility for a technological or regulatory design to simultaneously satisfy multiple societal expectations. Due to unsatisfied expectations concerning values, social discontent may arise. This paper identifies five groups of value conflicts in the smart electricity grid: consumer values versus competitiveness, IT enabled systems versus data protection, fair spatial distributions of energy systems versus system performance, market performance versus local trading, and individual access versus economies of scale. This is important for policy-makers and industry to increase the chances that the technology gains acceptance. As resolving value conflicts requires resources, this paper suggests three factors to prioritize their resolution: severity of resulting acceptance issues, resolvability of conflicts, and the level of resources required. The analysis shows that particularly the socio-economic disparities caused by the deployment of the smart electricity grid are alarming. Affordable policies are currently limited, but the impact in terms of social acceptance may be large.

Suggested Citation

  • de Wildt, T.E. & Chappin, E.J.L. & van de Kaa, G. & Herder, P.M. & van de Poel, I.R., 2019. "Conflicting values in the smart electricity grid a comprehensive overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 184-196.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:111:y:2019:i:c:p:184-196
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2019.05.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032119303119
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2019.05.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhou, Bin & Li, Wentao & Chan, Ka Wing & Cao, Yijia & Kuang, Yonghong & Liu, Xi & Wang, Xiong, 2016. "Smart home energy management systems: Concept, configurations, and scheduling strategies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 30-40.
    2. Wang, Chengshan & Liu, Yixin & Li, Xialin & Guo, Li & Qiao, Lei & Lu, Hai, 2016. "Energy management system for stand-alone diesel-wind-biomass microgrid with energy storage system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 90-104.
    3. Zhang, Neng & Sutanto, Danny & Muttaqi, Kashem M., 2016. "A review of topologies of three-port DC–DC converters for the integration of renewable energy and energy storage system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 388-401.
    4. IqtiyaniIlham, Nur & Hasanuzzaman, M. & Hosenuzzaman, M., 2017. "European smart grid prospects, policies, and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 776-790.
    5. Wolsink, Maarten, 2007. "Wind power implementation: The nature of public attitudes: Equity and fairness instead of 'backyard motives'," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 11(6), pages 1188-1207, August.
    6. Yagcitekin, Bunyamin & Uzunoglu, Mehmet, 2016. "A double-layer smart charging strategy of electric vehicles taking routing and charge scheduling into account," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 407-419.
    7. Sonnberger, Marco & Ruddat, Michael, 2017. "Local and socio-political acceptance of wind farms in Germany," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 56-65.
    8. Clastres, Cédric, 2011. "Smart grids: Another step towards competition, energy security and climate change objectives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 5399-5408, September.
    9. Bidwell, David, 2013. "The role of values in public beliefs and attitudes towards commercial wind energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 189-199.
    10. Baghaee, H.R. & Mirsalim, M. & Gharehpetian, G.B. & Talebi, H.A., 2016. "Reliability/cost-based multi-objective Pareto optimal design of stand-alone wind/PV/FC generation microgrid system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P1), pages 1022-1041.
    11. Wolsink, Maarten, 2007. "Planning of renewables schemes: Deliberative and fair decision-making on landscape issues instead of reproachful accusations of non-cooperation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2692-2704, May.
    12. Sharma, Konark & Mohan Saini, Lalit, 2015. "Performance analysis of smart metering for smart grid: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 720-735.
    13. Aad F. Correlje & John P.M. Groenewegen, 2009. "Public values in the energy sector: economic perspectives," International Journal of Public Policy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(5), pages 395-413.
    14. Munda, Giuseppe, 2004. "Social multi-criteria evaluation: Methodological foundations and operational consequences," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(3), pages 662-677, November.
    15. Söderholm, Patrik & Pettersson, Maria, 2011. "Offshore wind power policy and planning in Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 518-525, February.
    16. Jin, Ming & Feng, Wei & Marnay, Chris & Spanos, Costas, 2018. "Microgrid to enable optimal distributed energy retail and end-user demand response," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 1321-1335.
    17. Schweizer, Pia-Johanna & Renn, Ortwin & Köck, Wolfgang & Bovet, Jana & Benighaus, Christina & Scheel, Oliver & Schröter, Regina, 2016. "Public participation for infrastructure planning in the context of the German “Energiewende”," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(PB), pages 206-209.
    18. Posada, Jorge Omar Gil & Rennie, Anthony J.R. & Villar, Sofia Perez & Martins, Vitor L. & Marinaccio, Jordan & Barnes, Alistair & Glover, Carol F. & Worsley, David A. & Hall, Peter J., 2017. "Aqueous batteries as grid scale energy storage solutions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P2), pages 1174-1182.
    19. Broman Toft, Madeleine & Schuitema, Geertje & Thøgersen, John, 2014. "Responsible technology acceptance: Model development and application to consumer acceptance of Smart Grid technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 392-400.
    20. Wu, Qiong & Ren, Hongbo & Gao, Weijun & Ren, Jianxing & Lao, Changshi, 2017. "Profit allocation analysis among the distributed energy network participants based on Game-theory," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 783-794.
    21. Koirala, Binod Prasad & Koliou, Elta & Friege, Jonas & Hakvoort, Rudi A. & Herder, Paulien M., 2016. "Energetic communities for community energy: A review of key issues and trends shaping integrated community energy systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 722-744.
    22. Joshua M. Epstein & Robert L. Axtell, 1996. "Growing Artificial Societies: Social Science from the Bottom Up," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262550253, December.
    23. Haggett, Claire, 2011. "Understanding public responses to offshore wind power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 503-510, February.
    24. Wustenhagen, Rolf & Wolsink, Maarten & Burer, Mary Jean, 2007. "Social acceptance of renewable energy innovation: An introduction to the concept," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2683-2691, May.
    25. Weber,Elke U. & Baron,Jonathan & Loomes,Graham (ed.), 2001. "Conflict and Tradeoffs in Decision Making," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521772389.
    26. Martinez-Alier, Joan & Munda, Giuseppe & O'Neill, John, 1998. "Weak comparability of values as a foundation for ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 277-286, September.
    27. Pearson, Ivan L.G., 2011. "Smart grid cyber security for Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 5211-5218, September.
    28. Hannan, M.A. & Hoque, M.M. & Mohamed, A. & Ayob, A., 2017. "Review of energy storage systems for electric vehicle applications: Issues and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 771-789.
    29. Ren, Hongbo & Wu, Qiong & Gao, Weijun & Zhou, Weisheng, 2016. "Optimal operation of a grid-connected hybrid PV/fuel cell/battery energy system for residential applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 702-712.
    30. Zhang, Shuo & Xiong, Rui & Sun, Fengchun, 2017. "Model predictive control for power management in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle with a hybrid energy storage system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1654-1662.
    31. de Wildt, Tristan E. & Chappin, Emile J.L. & van de Kaa, Geerten & Herder, Paulien M., 2018. "A comprehensive approach to reviewing latent topics addressed by literature across multiple disciplines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 2111-2128.
    32. Simpson, Genevieve & Clifton, Julian, 2016. "Subsidies for residential solar photovoltaic energy systems in Western Australia: Distributional, procedural and outcome justice," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 262-273.
    33. Milchram, Christine & Hillerbrand, Rafaela & van de Kaa, Geerten & Doorn, Neelke & Künneke, Rolf, 2018. "Energy Justice and Smart Grid Systems: Evidence from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 1244-1259.
    34. Wu, Qiong & Ren, Hongbo & Gao, Weijun & Ren, Jianxing, 2017. "Benefit allocation for distributed energy network participants applying game theory based solutions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 384-391.
    35. Tuballa, Maria Lorena & Abundo, Michael Lochinvar, 2016. "A review of the development of Smart Grid technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 710-725.
    36. Jung, Nusrat & Moula, Munjur E. & Fang, Tingting & Hamdy, Mohamed & Lahdelma, Risto, 2016. "Social acceptance of renewable energy technologies for buildings in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area of Finland," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 813-824.
    37. Nosratabadi, Seyyed Mostafa & Hooshmand, Rahmat-Allah & Gholipour, Eskandar, 2017. "A comprehensive review on microgrid and virtual power plant concepts employed for distributed energy resources scheduling in power systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 341-363.
    38. Karatayev, Marat & Clarke, Michèle L., 2016. "A review of current energy systems and green energy potential in Kazakhstan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 491-504.
    39. Kyriakopoulos, Grigorios L. & Arabatzis, Garyfallos, 2016. "Electrical energy storage systems in electricity generation: Energy policies, innovative technologies, and regulatory regimes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1044-1067.
    40. Cédric Clastres, 2011. "Smart grids : Another step towards competition, energy security and climate change objectives," Post-Print halshs-00617702, HAL.
    41. Healy, Noel & Barry, John, 2017. "Politicizing energy justice and energy system transitions: Fossil fuel divestment and a “just transition”," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 451-459.
    42. Haghighat Mamaghani, Alireza & Avella Escandon, Sebastian Alberto & Najafi, Behzad & Shirazi, Ali & Rinaldi, Fabio, 2016. "Techno-economic feasibility of photovoltaic, wind, diesel and hybrid electrification systems for off-grid rural electrification in Colombia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 293-305.
    43. Jeannie Oliver & Benjamin Sovacool, 2017. "The Energy Trilemma and the Smart Grid: Implications Beyond the United States," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(1), pages 70-84, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tuomela, Sanna & de Castro Tomé, Mauricio & Iivari, Netta & Svento, Rauli, 2021. "Impacts of home energy management systems on electricity consumption," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    2. Taqavi, Mostafa & Kafaee, Mahdi & Ravanbakhsh, Rostam, 2021. "Islamic alternatives to the ethical maxims of modern technology from the perspective of Mario Bunge," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    3. Flavio Guerhardt & Thadeu Alfredo Farias Silva & Felix Martin Carbajal Gamarra & Silvestre Eduardo Rocha Ribeiro Júnior & Segundo Alberto Vásquez Llanos & Ada Patricia Barturén Quispe & Milton Vieira , 2020. "A Smart Grid System for Reducing Energy Consumption and Energy Cost in Buildings in São Paulo, Brazil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-22, July.
    4. Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu & Muhittin Hakan Demir & Sebnem Altinci, 2022. "Understanding the Citizen’s Role in the Transition to a Smart Energy System: Are We Ready?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-24, May.
    5. Norouzi, Farshid & Hoppe, Thomas & Elizondo, Laura Ramirez & Bauer, Pavol, 2022. "A review of socio-technical barriers to Smart Microgrid development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Hugo Lucas & Ruth Carbajo & Tomoo Machiba & Evgeny Zhukov & Luisa F. Cabeza, 2021. "Improving Public Attitude towards Renewable Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-16, July.
    7. Perri, Cecilia & Giglio, Carlo & Corvello, Vincenzo, 2020. "Smart users for smart technologies: Investigating the intention to adopt smart energy consumption behaviors," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maarten Wolsink, 2020. "Framing in Renewable Energy Policies: A Glossary," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-31, June.
    2. Sonnberger, Marco & Ruddat, Michael, 2017. "Local and socio-political acceptance of wind farms in Germany," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 56-65.
    3. de Wildt, Tristan E. & Boijmans, Anne R. & Chappin, Emile J.L. & Herder, Paulien M., 2021. "An ex ante assessment of value conflicts and social acceptance of sustainable heating systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    4. Langer, Katharina & Decker, Thomas & Roosen, Jutta & Menrad, Klaus, 2016. "A qualitative analysis to understand the acceptance of wind energy in Bavaria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 248-259.
    5. Hübner, Gundula & Leschinger, Valentin & Müller, Florian J.Y. & Pohl, Johannes, 2023. "Broadening the social acceptance of wind energy – An Integrated Acceptance Model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    6. Ponce, Pedro & Polasko, Kenneth & Molina, Arturo, 2016. "End user perceptions toward smart grid technology: Acceptance, adoption, risks, and trust," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 587-598.
    7. Lombard, Andrea & Ferreira, Sanette, 2014. "Residents' attitudes to proposed wind farms in the West Coast region of South Africa: A social perspective from the South," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 390-399.
    8. Schumacher, K. & Krones, F. & McKenna, R. & Schultmann, F., 2019. "Public acceptance of renewable energies and energy autonomy: A comparative study in the French, German and Swiss Upper Rhine region," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 315-332.
    9. Ellabban, Omar & Abu-Rub, Haitham, 2016. "Smart grid customers' acceptance and engagement: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1285-1298.
    10. Leer Jørgensen, Marie & Anker, Helle Tegner & Lassen, Jesper, 2020. "Distributive fairness and local acceptance of wind turbines: The role of compensation schemes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    11. Zerrahn, Alexander, 2017. "Wind Power and Externalities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 245-260.
    12. Bertsch, Valentin & Hyland, Marie & Mahony, Michael, 2017. "What drives people's opinions of electricity infrastructure? Empirical evidence from Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 472-497.
    13. Bidwell, David, 2023. "Tourists are people too: Nonresidents’ values, beliefs, and acceptance of a nearshore wind farm," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    14. Plum, Christiane & Olschewski, Roland & Jobin, Marilou & van Vliet, Oscar, 2019. "Public preferences for the Swiss electricity system after the nuclear phase-out: A choice experiment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 181-196.
    15. Wolsink, Maarten, 2020. "Distributed energy systems as common goods: Socio-political acceptance of renewables in intelligent microgrids," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    16. Ioannidis, Romanos & Koutsoyiannis, Demetris, 2020. "A review of land use, visibility and public perception of renewable energy in the context of landscape impact," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    17. Russell, Aaron & Bingaman, Samantha & Garcia, Hannah-Marie, 2021. "Threading a moving needle: The spatial dimensions characterizing US offshore wind policy drivers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    18. Adams, Michelle & Wheeler, David & Woolston, Genna, 2011. "A participatory approach to sustainable energy strategy development in a carbon-intensive jurisdiction: The case of Nova Scotia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2550-2559, May.
    19. Haggett, Claire, 2011. "Understanding public responses to offshore wind power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 503-510, February.
    20. Yanshan Yu & Jin Yang & Bin Chen, 2012. "The Smart Grids in China—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 5(5), pages 1-18, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:111:y:2019:i:c:p:184-196. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.