IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v57y2016icp1025-1037.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Socio-technical evolution of Decentralized Energy Systems: A critical review and implications for urban planning and policy

Author

Listed:
  • Adil, Ali M.
  • Ko, Yekang

Abstract

The growth of Decentralized Energy Systems (DES) signals a new frontier in urban energy planning and design of local energy systems. As affordability of renewable energy technologies (RET) increases, cities and urban regions become the venues, not only for energy consumption but also for generation and distribution, which calls for systemic and paradigmatic change in local energy infrastructure. The decentralizing transitions of urban energy systems, particularly solar photovoltaic and thermal technologies, require a comprehensive assessment of their sociotechnical co-evolution – how technologies and social responses evolve together and how their co-evolution affects urban planning and energy policies. So far, urban planning literature has mainly focused on the impact of physical urban forms on efficiency of energy consumption, overlooking how the dynamics of new energy technologies and associated social responses affect local systems of energy infrastructure, the built environments and their residents. This paper provides an interdisciplinary review on the co-evolving technical and social dynamics of DES focusing on Distributed Generation (DG), MicroGrids (MG), and Smart MicroGrids (SMG), in order to draw insights for their integration in urban planning and policy, in particular reference to climate change mitigation and adaptation planning.

Suggested Citation

  • Adil, Ali M. & Ko, Yekang, 2016. "Socio-technical evolution of Decentralized Energy Systems: A critical review and implications for urban planning and policy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1025-1037.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:57:y:2016:i:c:p:1025-1037
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.079
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115014628
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.079?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. Chicco, Gianfranco & Mancarella, Pierluigi, 2009. "Distributed multi-generation: A comprehensive view," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 535-551, April.
    2. Jager, Wander, 2006. "Stimulating the diffusion of photovoltaic systems: A behavioural perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(14), pages 1935-1943, September.
    3. Jiayi, Huang & Chuanwen, Jiang & Rong, Xu, 2008. "A review on distributed energy resources and MicroGrid," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(9), pages 2472-2483, December.
    4. Richter, Mario, 2012. "Utilities’ business models for renewable energy: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2483-2493.
    5. Akorede, Mudathir Funsho & Hizam, Hashim & Pouresmaeil, Edris, 2010. "Distributed energy resources and benefits to the environment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 724-734, February.
    6. Faiers, Adam & Neame, Charles, 2006. "Consumer attitudes towards domestic solar power systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(14), pages 1797-1806, September.
    7. Faruqui, Ahmad & George, Stephen, 2005. "Quantifying Customer Response to Dynamic Pricing," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 53-63, May.
    8. Geelen, Daphne & Reinders, Angèle & Keyson, David, 2013. "Empowering the end-user in smart grids: Recommendations for the design of products and services," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 151-161.
    9. Bird, Stephen & Hernández, Diana, 2012. "Policy options for the split incentive: Increasing energy efficiency for low-income renters," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 506-514.
    10. Viral, Rajkumar & Khatod, D.K., 2012. "Optimal planning of distributed generation systems in distribution system: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 5146-5165.
    11. Pepermans, G. & Driesen, J. & Haeseldonckx, D. & Belmans, R. & D'haeseleer, W., 2005. "Distributed generation: definition, benefits and issues," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 787-798, April.
    12. Verbong, Geert P.J. & Beemsterboer, Sjouke & Sengers, Frans, 2013. "Smart grids or smart users? Involving users in developing a low carbon electricity economy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 117-125.
    13. Matthias D. Galus & Marina González Vayá & Thilo Krause & Göran Andersson, 2013. "The role of electric vehicles in smart grids," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(4), pages 384-400, July.
    14. Kwan, Calvin Lee, 2012. "Influence of local environmental, social, economic and political variables on the spatial distribution of residential solar PV arrays across the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 332-344.
    15. Paliwal, Priyanka & Patidar, N.P. & Nema, R.K., 2014. "Planning of grid integrated distributed generators: A review of technology, objectives and techniques," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 557-570.
    16. 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.
    17. Keirstead, James & Calderon, Carlos, 2012. "Capturing spatial effects, technology interactions, and uncertainty in urban energy and carbon models: Retrofitting newcastle as a case-study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 253-267.
    18. Schweizer-Ries, Petra, 2008. "Energy sustainable communities: Environmental psychological investigations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4126-4135, November.
    19. Lund, Henrik & Kempton, Willett, 2008. "Integration of renewable energy into the transport and electricity sectors through V2G," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 3578-3587, September.
    20. Abu-Sharkh, S. & Arnold, R.J. & Kohler, J. & Li, R. & Markvart, T. & Ross, J.N. & Steemers, K. & Wilson, P. & Yao, R., 2006. "Can microgrids make a major contribution to UK energy supply?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 78-127, April.
    21. Krister Andersson & Elinor Ostrom, 2008. "Analyzing decentralized resource regimes from a polycentric perspective," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 41(1), pages 71-93, March.
    22. Alanne, Kari & Saari, Arto, 2006. "Distributed energy generation and sustainable development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 10(6), pages 539-558, December.
    23. Byrd, Hugh & Ho, Anna & Sharp, Basil & Kumar-Nair, Nirmal, 2013. "Measuring the solar potential of a city and its implications for energy policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 944-952.
    24. Sauter, Raphael & Watson, Jim, 2007. "Strategies for the deployment of micro-generation: Implications for social acceptance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2770-2779, May.
    25. Karabiber, Abdulkerim & Keles, Cemal & Kaygusuz, Asim & Alagoz, B. Baykant, 2013. "An approach for the integration of renewable distributed generation in hybrid DC/AC microgrids," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 251-259.
    26. Gordon Walker & Sue Hunter & Patrick Devine-Wright & Bob Evans & Helen Fay, 2007. "Harnessing Community Energies: Explaining and Evaluating Community-Based Localism in Renewable Energy Policy in the UK," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 7(2), pages 64-82, May.
    27. Serge Salat & Loeiz Bourdic, 2012. "Urban Complexity, Efficiency and Resilience," Chapters, in: Zoran Morvaj (ed.), Energy Efficiency - A Bridge to Low Carbon Economy, IntechOpen.
    28. Damian Pitt & Ellen Bassett, 2013. "Collaborative Planning for Clean Energy Initiatives in Small to Mid-Sized Cities," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 79(4), pages 280-294, October.
    29. Jensen, Jesper Ole, 2008. "Measuring consumption in households: Interpretations and strategies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 353-361, December.
    30. Han Vandevyvere & Sven Stremke, 2012. "Urban Planning for a Renewable Energy Future: Methodological Challenges and Opportunities from a Design Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(6), pages 1-20, June.
    31. Walker, Gordon & Devine-Wright, Patrick & Hunter, Sue & High, Helen & Evans, Bob, 2010. "Trust and community: Exploring the meanings, contexts and dynamics of community renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 2655-2663, June.
    32. Tan, Wen-Shan & Hassan, Mohammad Yusri & Majid, Md Shah & Abdul Rahman, Hasimah, 2013. "Optimal distributed renewable generation planning: A review of different approaches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 626-645.
    33. Labay, Duncan G & Kinnear, Thomas C, 1981. "Exploring the Consumer Decision Process in the Adoption of Solar Energy Systems," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 8(3), pages 271-278, December.
    34. Ustun, Taha Selim & Ozansoy, Cagil & Zayegh, Aladin, 2011. "Recent developments in microgrids and example cases around the world—A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(8), pages 4030-4041.
    35. Watson, Jim, 2004. "Co-provision in sustainable energy systems: the case of micro-generation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(17), pages 1981-1990, November.
    36. Dincer, Ibrahim, 2000. "Renewable energy and sustainable development: a crucial review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 157-175, June.
    37. Walker, Gordon & Devine-Wright, Patrick, 2008. "Community renewable energy: What should it mean," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 497-500, February.
    38. van der Schoor, Tineke & Scholtens, Bert, 2015. "Power to the people: Local community initiatives and the transition to sustainable energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 666-675.
    39. Borges, Carmen Lucia Tancredo, 2012. "An overview of reliability models and methods for distribution systems with renewable energy distributed generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 4008-4015.
    40. Grünewald, Philipp H. & Cockerill, Timothy T. & Contestabile, Marcello & Pearson, Peter J.G., 2012. "The socio-technical transition of distributed electricity storage into future networks—System value and stakeholder views," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 449-457.
    41. Rae, Callum & Bradley, Fiona, 2012. "Energy autonomy in sustainable communities—A review of key issues," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(9), pages 6497-6506.
    42. Hafez, Omar & Bhattacharya, Kankar, 2012. "Optimal planning and design of a renewable energy based supply system for microgrids," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 7-15.
    43. Sofie Pandis Iverot & Nils Brandt, 2011. "The development of a sustainable urban district in Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm, Sweden?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 13(6), pages 1043-1064, December.
    44. Ahmad Faruqui & Sanem Sergici, 2010. "Household response to dynamic pricing of electricity: a survey of 15 experiments," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 193-225, October.
    45. Simon Marvin & Simon Guy, 1997. "Infrastructure Provision, Development Processes and the Co-production of Environmental Value," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 34(12), pages 2023-2036, December.
    46. Jorge J. Gomez-Sanz & Sandra Garcia-Rodriguez & Nuria Cuartero-Soler & Luis Hernandez-Callejo, 2014. "Reviewing Microgrids from a Multi-Agent Systems Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-28, May.
    47. Kaundinya, Deepak Paramashivan & Balachandra, P. & Ravindranath, N.H., 2009. "Grid-connected versus stand-alone energy systems for decentralized power--A review of literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 2041-2050, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Yanine, Franco F. & Sauma, Enzo E., 2013. "Review of grid-tie micro-generation systems without energy storage: Towards a new approach to sustainable hybrid energy systems linked to energy efficiency," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 60-95.
    2. Boon, Frank Pieter & Dieperink, Carel, 2014. "Local civil society based renewable energy organisations in the Netherlands: Exploring the factors that stimulate their emergence and development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 297-307.
    3. 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.
    4. 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).
    5. Juntunen, Jouni K. & Hyysalo, Sampsa, 2015. "Renewable micro-generation of heat and electricity—Review on common and missing socio-technical configurations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 857-870.
    6. Antoine Boche & Clément Foucher & Luiz Fernando Lavado Villa, 2022. "Understanding Microgrid Sustainability: A Systemic and Comprehensive Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-29, April.
    7. Beau Warbroek & Thomas Hoppe, 2017. "Modes of Governing and Policy of Local and Regional Governments Supporting Local Low-Carbon Energy Initiatives; Exploring the Cases of the Dutch Regions of Overijssel and Fryslân," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-36, January.
    8. Manfren, Massimiliano & Caputo, Paola & Costa, Gaia, 2011. "Paradigm shift in urban energy systems through distributed generation: Methods and models," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 1032-1048, April.
    9. Francesco Pasimeni, 2017. "Adoption and Diffusion of Micro-Grids in Italy. An Analysis of Regional Factors Using Agent-Based Modelling," SPRU Working Paper Series 2017-09, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    10. Mandelli, Stefano & Barbieri, Jacopo & Mereu, Riccardo & Colombo, Emanuela, 2016. "Off-grid systems for rural electrification in developing countries: Definitions, classification and a comprehensive literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1621-1646.
    11. Rae, Callum & Bradley, Fiona, 2012. "Energy autonomy in sustainable communities—A review of key issues," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(9), pages 6497-6506.
    12. Klein, Sharon J.W. & Coffey, Stephanie, 2016. "Building a sustainable energy future, one community at a time," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 867-880.
    13. Botelho, D.F. & de Oliveira, L.W. & Dias, B.H. & Soares, T.A. & Moraes, C.A., 2022. "Prosumer integration into the Brazilian energy sector: An overview of innovative business models and regulatory challenges," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    14. Avri Eitan & Gillad Rosen & Lior Herman & Itay Fishhendler, 2020. "Renewable Energy Entrepreneurs: A Conceptual Framework," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-23, May.
    15. von Wirth, Timo & Gislason, Linda & Seidl, Roman, 2018. "Distributed energy systems on a neighborhood scale: Reviewing drivers of and barriers to social acceptance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2618-2628.
    16. Kalkbrenner, Bernhard J. & Yonezawa, Koichi & Roosen, Jutta, 2017. "Consumer preferences for electricity tariffs: Does proximity matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 413-424.
    17. Eitan, Avri & Herman, Lior & Fischhendler, Itay & Rosen, Gillad, 2019. "Community–private sector partnerships in renewable energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 95-104.
    18. Mallikarjun, Sreekanth & Lewis, Herbert F., 2014. "Energy technology allocation for distributed energy resources: A strategic technology-policy framework," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 783-799.
    19. Paliwal, Priyanka & Patidar, N.P. & Nema, R.K., 2014. "Planning of grid integrated distributed generators: A review of technology, objectives and techniques," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 557-570.
    20. Rezaee Jordehi, Ahmad, 2016. "Allocation of distributed generation units in electric power systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 893-905.

    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:57:y:2016:i:c:p:1025-1037. 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.