Consumer habits and preferences in the renewable energy market

Abstract

The world energy consumption was about 567-578 EJ in 2017 which is still increasing – in 2017 by 2.2%, and yearly by 1.7% on average since 2006 (BP, 2018, IEA, 2018). Within this, the consumption of residential segment plays a significant role both in the EU (42%) and in Hungary (35%) as well (Eurostat, 2019). The Hungarian population spend 12.8% (35 EUR/capita/month) of their income on energy sources, and this rate is even higher in case of the pensioners, singles and those who have lower income (KSH, 2019). At the same time, the rate of renewables in the energy mix stagnates for years worldwide (14%), it is a bit higher in the EU and in Hungary than the world average (18-18%, IEA, 2018). Thus, the renewable energy sources can also have serious perspectives in the residential cost reduction, in the sustainable energy consumption and in the local income production. Our aim is to analyse the knowledge of Hungarian consumers on renewable energy sources, their willingness to apply them and the socio-demographic factors on these. To execute the research objectives, a national representative survey with 1000 people was started in April 2019 in Hungary. Based on the results of the questionnaire, it was concluded that the information of the inhabitants is below the average in case of every examined renewable energy source, which is especially true for the biomass-based energy sources. The ease is almost as important as the environment friendliness. An excessively high rate of respondents (34 and 27%) is interested in solar panels and solar collectors, 32% of them seclude themselves from the use of these energy sources. It would be justified to extend these consumer researches in the future for more countries. The authors wish to clarify how the differences in location, income status and residential segment and values influence the spread of these energy sources in the EU and by which tools could support the usage of these in the future. Acknowledgment This research was supported by EFOP-3.6.1-16-2016-00022 „Debrecen Venture Catapult Program”. The research was financed by the Higher Education Institutional Excellence Programme (20428-3/2018/FEKUTSTRAT) of the Ministry of Human Capacities in Hungary, within the framework of the 4.thematic programme of the University of Debrecen. References BP (British Petrol, 2018): Statistical Review of World Energy. 67th edition, pp. 1-52Eurostat (2019): https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Renewable_energy_statisticsInternational Energy Agency (IEA, 2018): Key World Energy Statistics. www.iea. org/statistics, pp. 1-51KSH (Hungarian Central Statistic Agency, 2019). http://www.ksh.hu/thm/3/indi3_1_2.html