Abstract
This article analyses two major trends of the 21st century. Firstly, the transition from fossil fuel-based energy production to renewable energy sources. Secondly, the inexorable urbanisation which can be witnessed all over the globe. The most promising renewable energy production technologies for the near future, i.e., wind and solar energy, are volatile by nature which makes matching supply and demand essential for a successful transition. Therefore, the aspects that determine the willingness of consumers to flexibilise their demand has gained growing attention. Initial research shows that different settings for (co-)ownership in terms of available prosumption options and used production technologies have a varying impact on demand flexibility. However, existing research has analysed flexibility drivers solely for the general population as an aggregate without any distinction regarding spatial, economic, or social factors. In this article, the authors go one step further and analyse whether those drivers for flexible consumption behaviour differ in rural or urban areas acknowledging differences in day-to-day life in both cases. This study is based on 2074 completed questionnaires from German consumers which were analysed using propensity score matching. The results show that people from rural and urban areas do not significantly differ in their willingness to be demand flexible in general. However, (co-)owners of RE installations from rural areas are generally significantly more demand flexible than (co-)owners of RE installations from urban areas. Further, when looking at different RE technologies, the results show that (co-)owners of solar installations are significantly more demand flexible if they are from rural areas. Lastly, when looking at usage options, people who solely consume produced electricity are more demand flexible if they are from rural areas as well.
Highlights
When looking at different renewable energy (RE) technologies, the results show thatowners of solar installations are significantly more demand flexible if they are from rural areas
There is a significant result with the charging of electrical appliances. In this dimension people are 0.782 ** scale points more demand flexible if they are from rural areas as compared to urban areas
For people living in urban areas where the distance to energy infrastructures, theyown is normally further away than in a rural context, financial motives might be more dominant so that there is, on average, less raised awareness to energy issues compared to people living in rural areas
Summary
Among others, Berry [7] reports that energy efficient behaviour of consumers is increased via community-based organisations as participatory social processes for planning and implementation of these projects lead to higher civic engagement encompassing learning, social interaction, and joint problem solving which results in improved energy efficiency behaviour For the latter, Roth et al [8] find that (co-)ownership of RE production facilities has an effect on the willingness of citizens to adjust their consumption behaviour to match their electricity demand to production levels. Underlying this research question is the finding that citizens living in a rural environment are showing a different behaviour than their counterparts living in an urban area in contexts such as energy saving (e.g., [9,10]). The German case serves as a reference point in the identification of some useful theories and methods for the study of (co-)ownership and its effects on demand flexibility [13]
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