Household Technology Research Articles

Adoption of clean energy cooking technologies in rural households: the role of women

Abstract Ensuring energy access for rural households is crucial for global sustainable development. Technologies like liquefied petroleum gas, biogas, and efficient cookers are touted as solutions, yet their adoption remains limited despite their potential health, economic, and environmental benefits. We conducted a meta-analysis of 50 studies in developing countries, integrating contextual factors to explore gender and other determinants impacting rural energy transition. Our findings underscore socioeconomic status, social capital, environmental concerns, and gender dynamics as pivotal factors. Notably, women's involvement boosts adoption rates by 7.90 per cent, yet cultural barriers often sideline them from these processes. Thus, our recommendations stress addressing women's roles as energy technology users to foster inclusive energy transitions.

The Automated Heart: Digital Domesticity and Emotional Labour Saving

This article considers the relevance of domestic labour saving devices to emotional labour. Starting with an account of the ways in which household technologies failed to relieve the burdens of domestic drudgery in the twentieth century, it proceeds to consider the labour saving potential of the ‘smart home’, as well as the gendered ideologies it represents. By looking at social robots designed for use in the smart home, we see that, while manual housework is beyond the scope of today’s smart technologies, emotional labour is not. Thinking about the different forms that domestic automation can take allows us to recognise that there are qualitative as well as quantitative factors to consider when it comes to critically assessing domestic labour saving ambitions. The article concludes by exploring continuities with paid care work, and by developing a tri-partite approach to reproductive labour as high touch, high tech, and high talk.

Analysis of the impact of ICT by socioeconomic level

Information and communication technologies (ICT) strengthen the economy. Likewise, the socioeconomic level in Mexico is classified into 4 levels. The objective was to analyze ICT by socioeconomic level, considering gender, education and territorial scope. Data from the National Survey of Availability and Use of Information Technologies in Households 2021 were used. The sample was 15,325,746 households. An econometric model was developed using the Logit and Probit methods. The following was found: 1) Women cannot reach high levels, 2) The older they are, the higher the level, 3) The specialty educational level has a higher socioeconomic level, 4) The urban area reaches a higher stratum compared to the rural area, 5) The use of the computer and the Internet also presents high levels. It is concluded that the most vulnerable are rural women with primary level who do not use ICT.

Who will ‘go electric’? American homeowners' perceptions of home energy sources and home electrification

In the context of the global climate crisis, the role the building sector plays in direct consumption of fossil fuels, especially natural gas, has come under increased scrutiny. Several major cities have initiated a phase out of natural gas hookups in homes and other buildings, requiring use of electric appliances. Additionally, with the passage of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, major incentives came available to help homeowners purchase and install electric appliances in their residences. Currently, over half of American homes use natural gas for heating or cooking, but research is needed to understand public opinion of household electrification. Here, we use 2021 survey data of American homeowners with electricity in the household (n = 4470) to analyze distribution of different energy sources currently used by homeowners, favorability toward gas versus electric appliances, and attitudes toward home electrification. We find that homeowners in the South, Midwest, and Intermountain West regions of the US are more likely than those in the New England area to already reside in electric-only homes, but we don't find the same geographic variation in support for home electrification. We also find that homeowners who are politically liberal, don't already use natural gas, have children at home, live in more urban areas, use rooftop solar, already use an induction stove or heat pump, and believe electricity is safer than natural gas are more supportive of electrification. These findings provide clues as to who is more and less likely to adopt electric household technologies.

The Changing Lives of Amish Women: Surprising Findings from My PhD Research

In the foreword to Plain Women(Reynolds, 2001), the ethnographer Simon Bronner writes, “In fact we know far more about Amish men than about Amish women.” His statement prompted me to want to know more about Amish women. My research into how life has changed for Amish women fulfilled both my own intellectual curiosity and fills a gap in the understanding of the lives of Amish women in the wider academic field, although a thorough treatment of the lives of Amish women was subsequently published, which both supports and contrasts with my findings (Johnson-Weiner, 2020). After an initial introduction to Amish women via a gatekeeper, I used snowball sampling to find other Old Order and New Order Amish women, first in Holmes County, Ohio, and later in various communities in Pennsylvania. My fieldwork was based on an ethnographic approach whereby I lived with Amish families as well as interviewed New Order and Old Order women in Ohio and Old Order women in Pennsylvania during visits in 2012 and 2014. This article describes changes identified by those women in homes and gardens, household technology, travel, and vacation habits in their lifetimes.

Research on the Impact of Digital Technology Application on Households Calculation Based on Household Digital Penetration Index

With the widespread popularization of digital technology and its continuous penetration into family life, the impact of digital technology on the national economy and residents' lives has gradually emerged. Based on the CFPS database, this article uses the A-F model to measure the household digital penetration index, explores the popularity and application of digital technology in households, and uses an empirical model to analyze the impact of the household digital penetration index on household income, consumption and income gaps. Research results show that digital technology has increasingly penetrated households from 2010 to 2020. The household digital penetration index can effectively increase household income and stimulate consumption, but it also widens the household income gap to a certain extent. At the same time, the impact of household digital penetration index on residential households shows obvious spatial heterogeneity.

The influence of gender specific decisions on household technology choice within the farming households in central Uganda

How households make decisions, who influences decision making and how members bargain over resources and opportunities greatly affects the livelihood and wellbeing of members within a given household. This study sought to understand gender specific decisions and their influence on household technology choice, packaging and adoption of agricultural technologies. Growing Bananas with Trees and Livestock (GBTL) technology system was implemented by National Agricultural Research Organisation and Bioversity International in three districts of Central Uganda: Kiboga, Nakaseke and Ssembabule. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis (CA), typologies were created in which two distinct clusters of farming households were revealed. Using a bargaining model of technology adoption, three types of households were identified; male and female only, female only and male only headed households. For technology uptake, either a single component, two components or all components of a technology was adopted. Results indicated that Household size, age, land owned, labour and gender composition of the household positively influenced the adoption of the technology. Farm households were able to take up and adopt components of the technology that were equivalent to the available household resources. Technology choice and adoption was influenced by available land, labor and household objectives (food, income and nutrition security). Households' ability to avert the loss of production and/or assets was very varied and depended on household size. For non-business home expenses, decisions followed a gendered perspective where households with both male and female, had more participants involved in household decision making, households make decision jointly when it comes to purchases and sales. Banana plantations establishment and management was for the spouse. Livestock production was initiated and managed by the household heads. Individual decisions were influenced by age of the household head, livestock owner. Joint household’s decision making was significant on purchases, sales of inputs and outputs, land ownership, and were influenced by household size and farm size. This study brings out important policy implications that in order to ensure widespread adoption of improved technologies, there should be equitable access to complementary inputs, especially land and labour for females. And technology packaging should take into consideration the gender specific decisions for sustainable agricultural development. Key words: Decision making, Technology choice, adoption, Coffee banana farming system, Gender

Smart Vacuum Cleaning Robot

In today's fast-paced world, the demand for efficient and convenient household technologies continues to surge. Among these, smart vacuum cleaning robots have emerged as indispensable tools, promising automated cleaning solutions that integrate seamlessly into modern lifestyles. This abstract presents a comprehensive overview of a cutting-edge smart vacuum cleaning robot embedded system, featuring five key components for enhanced functionality. The system is anchored by an Arduino Nano-based model, leveraging the versatility and reliability of Arduino technology to orchestrate the robot's operations. Through a Bluetooth-operated interface facilitated by a dedicated mobile application, users can effortlessly control the robot's movements and cleaning schedules, offering unparalleled convenience and flexibility. Equipped with a dry vacuum cleaning system optimized for dust collection, the robot ensures thorough cleaning performance while minimizing maintenance hassles. Additionally, an ultrasonic sensor serves as a robust obstacle detector, enabling the robot to navigate intelligently and avoid collisions with furniture and other obstructions. Crucially, the entire system operates on a battery-powered module, granting the freedom to traverse various spaces without constraints imposed by traditional power sources. By synergizing these components, the proposed smart vacuum cleaning robot embedded system epitomizes the convergence of innovation and practicality, poised to revolutionize the landscape of home cleaning automation.

Evaluation of Technological Configurations of Residential Energy Systems Considering Bidirectional Power Supply by Vehicles in Japan

To reduce CO2 emissions in the residential and transportation sectors, distributed energy technologies, such as photovoltaic power generation (PV), stationary storage batteries (SBs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and vehicle-to-home (V2H) systems, are expected to be introduced. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of the installed capacity of PV and SB, the type of vehicle, and their combination on the economic and environmental performance of the total energy consumption of residences and vehicles. Thus, this study developed a model to optimize the technological configuration of residential energy systems, including various vehicle types and driving patterns. The simulation results showed that it is more economically and environmentally efficient to install a BEV and a V2H system in households with longer parking times at the residence and to install an SB in addition to these technologies in households with shorter parking times at the residence. Furthermore, comparing a gasoline vehicle and an SB, the most economical combination, with a BEV and a V2H system and with a BEV, a V2H system, and an SB, estimated the carbon tax rate necessary for cost equivalence. The result indicated that the carbon tax rate needs to be increased from its current level.

Enhancing children's nutrition: the influence of rural household technology under China's home appliances going to the countryside policy.

This study explores the influence of household technological advancements on children's nutritional intake, specifically within the context of the Chinese government's "Home Appliances Going to the Countryside" (HAGC) initiative. Utilizing data from the China Health and Nutrition Surveys of 2006, 2009, and 2011, we employed a Propensity Score Matching Difference-in-Differences (PSM-DID) framework to ascertain the repercussions of enhanced household technology on the dynamics of children's nutritional consumption patterns. Our analysis reveals that the HAGC-inspired integration of household appliances, including color televisions, washing machines, and refrigerators, has beneficially reshaped the nutritional consumption patterns of children, with a pronounced effect among female children. This finding remains consistent even when employing alternate methodological robustness tests. A deeper examination of the HAGC policy's mechanisms underscores the pivotal roles of parental time allocation, improved food storage capabilities, and augmented information accessibility as significant drivers bolstering children's nutritional intake. These insights bear considerable significance for strategizing interventions aimed at elevating the nutritional wellbeing of children in rural settings, offering valuable input for shaping public health policies tailored for such demographies.

Bringing energy futures to life: Anticipatory household storylines as possible energy futures

This article introduces a new methodology developed through the Digital Energy Futures project, which created scenarios of relevance to Australia’s energy sector for the years 2030 and 2050 that are informed by in-depth qualitative research with households. The article focuses on the method for developing narrative household storylines within energy scenarios and their role illustrating the social consequences of imagined futures. In particular, the household narratives reveal often overlooked social dynamics of energy and technology use such as inequalities in access to technologies, everyday values and priorities, as well as their desires to stay in control of household technologies and preferences for particular limits to automation. The household storylines encourage the energy sector to take critical social dynamics into account in their forecasting and planning and to recognise the diverse implications of envisioned energy futures across households. In the vein of an engaged and interventional futures anthropology, this article goes beyond traditional critiques of quantitative forecasting by offering a method to take forward and demonstrating how social science can provide interventions into the unfolding of better social futures with technology.

Analysis of the Most Influential Social Networks in Online Shopping in Mexico

The present study addresses the relationship between the use of social media and consumer purchasing decisions, with the purpose of providing valuable information for entrepreneurs to effectively allocate their resources on relevant social platforms. The focus is based on the Mexican context, with the primary objective of identifying the most influential social networks in purchasing decisions and assessing whether the variable of age plays a significant role in this process. The methodology employed combines a literature review using the Web of Science database with a quantitative analysis of data collected from the National Survey on Availability and Use of Information Technologies in Households (ENDUTIH) conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) for the year 2022. The findings reveal that the social media platforms with the greatest influence on online purchases in Mexico are Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter. Surprisingly, the study did not find significant evidence supporting the influence of age on online purchasing decisions. These results have significant implications for online marketing and advertising strategies within the Mexican context.

From smoke to sustainability: the role of socioeconomic factors in the continuous use of clean cooking technologies in Uganda

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the influence of specific socioeconomic factors, namely neighborhood, gender roles and affordability, on the continuous use of clean cooking technologies (CCTs) in households, using evidence from Uganda.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted an explanatory quantitative design. A questionnaire survey with 379 clean household responses was conducted. The data were analyzed using the Smart Partial Least Squares (PLS) software.FindingsThe results indicate that the sustained use of clean cooking technologies in households in Uganda is significantly associated with neighborhood influence, shared gender roles and affordability, collectively accounting for 27.7% of the variance.Research limitations/implicationsThe three dimensions of socioeconomic factors under study partially explain the sustained use of CCTs in Uganda. The study does not delve into other socioeconomic factors that could probably account for 72.2% of the variance not explained. The quantitative design may have overlooked the social reality perspectives inherent in qualitative studies that other researchers may endeavor to exploit.Originality/valueThe authors integrated three dimensions of socioeconomic factors – neighborhood influence, gender roles and affordability – with the diffusion of innovation theory (DIT) using Smart PLS to explain the continuous use of CCTs within households.

Willingness to pay for climate change mitigation measures in households: Bundling up renewable energy, energy efficiency, and renovation

AbstractThrough their consumption behavior, households are responsible for more than 70% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the GHG emission reduction potential due to the household behavior is very high. Energy consumption is the main source of the GHG emission in households. There are two main ways to reduce GHG emissions in households: use of renewable energy, energy efficiency improvement, and energy conservation due to changes in the energy use patterns. The highest energy saving potential in households is linked with building renovation, followed by the use of energy efficient appliances (including lighting). Renewable energy microgeneration technologies in households also provide opportunities for GHG emission reduction. Although there have been many policies developed to reduce GHG emissions from energy consumption in households, they still need to be more effective. This paper aims to assess willingness of Lithuanian households to reduce GHG emissions from energy consumption in households by embarking on energy renovation of buildings, use of energy efficient appliances and use of renewable energy technologies. The willingness to pay for these GHG emission reduction measures allows to compare household preferences with respect to available support measures and assess the adequacy of such measures. The paper also discusses household attitudes toward the main policies and measures for GHG emission reduction. The results show the highest willingness to pay for energy efficient appliances, followed by renewable energy technologies. The willingness to pay for energy renovation is the lowest one and such s measure requires significant state support.

Advanced digital skills of the Spanish population from 2015 to 2021. Socioeconomic and geographical factors according to an ordered probit model

The increasing digitalisation of the economy, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, requires the population to have advanced digital skills. In a decentralised country such as Spain, it is necessary to identify the population’s model of digital skills acquisition by taking geographical variables into account. To this end, the aim of this research is to analyse the impact of socioeconomic and geographical variables on the level of advanced digital skills of the Spanish population including two spatial levels: regional (Autonomous Communities) and local (provinces) from 2015 to 2021. An ordered probit model is used with microdata provided by the Spanish National Statistics Institute’s Survey on Equipment and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Households (ICT_H) for 2015, 2019 and 2021. The results of this study show that socioeconomic factors have a greater influence than geographical factors on the digital skills acquisition model. The model has undergone changes with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an increase of advanced digital skills among the employed and the unemployed compared to inactive persons. Moreover, the importance of educational level is corroborated and the importance of daily Internet use increased during the pandemic. There was also less regional than provincial dispersion in the probability of converging in digital skills with the region and province of Madrid. This study contributes the evolution over time of the model of digital skills acquisition with socioeconomic and geographical variables, identifying intra-regional differences and indicating whether there is spatial dependence between regional and local levels in Spain, with a view to reducing them in terms of sustainability.

Intrahousehold preference heterogeneity and demand for labor‐saving agricultural technology

AbstractEvaluations of agricultural technologies rarely consider the implications of how adoption may alter the labor allocation of different individuals within a household. We examine intrahousehold decision‐making dynamics that shape smallholder households' decision to use mechanical rice transplanting (MRT), a technology that disproportionately influences demand for women's labor. To study the adoption decision, we experimentally estimate the willingness to pay for MRT services both at the individual and household level. We find that women value MRT more than men, especially when they participate in transplanting on their own farms. This preference heterogeneity is evident in the unconditional differences between women's and men's valuation and differences conditional on their individual observable characteristics. Despite having stronger preferences for MRT, women have less influence on the household's technology adoption decision than men. This differential influence over the MRT adoption decision reflects the intrahousehold power structure: in households where women have less control over assets, they also have less influence over the MRT adoption decision. Our results highlight how technological changes interact with unobserved, gender‐based intrahousehold power relations to influence agricultural production decisions and, by extension, the gendered allocation of labor and welfare of women.

Why Don't We Look at Television?

The television set was for many decades a ubiquitous household technology. Though omnipresent and designed to be watched, it has faded into the background of domesticity. The era of streaming and portable viewing devices questions the continuing need for a television set-an opportune moment to reconsider the materiality of this object technology in domestic life. Taking television's entry into British homes as a case study, this essay asks what the act of looking at-rather than watching-television means. It explores the paradox in television's design and function, both to be viewed and to disappear. The essay argues that its materiality became embedded in mediated debates about design and taste, while television owners appropriated the television set according to their domestic requirements and tastes-sometimes bypassing what manufacturers and designers intended.

Green Household Technology and Its Impacts on Environmental Sustainability in China

China has made a commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, and promoting a green lifestyle is an essential means to this end. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the asymmetric impact of green household technology on environmental sustainability in China. To that end, we have employed linear and non-linear auto-regressive distributed lag models to identify this complicated effect. The empirical results suggest that green household technology’s positive change exerts significant and negative effect on carbon emission in the short and long terms. And the impacts of green household technology’s negative change on carbon emission are significantly negative but smaller than its positive change in the long run, while insignificant in the short term. The estimates endorse the asymmetric impact of green household technology on carbon emissions both in the short and long term. This finding suggests that the improvement of green household technology can reduce carbon emissions, while a decline in it causes carbon emissions to rise, and technological retrogression plays a less influential role than its development. This research is a groundbreaking point in discussing the way towards environmental sustainability from a green household technology perspective, which considers the asymmetric effect and provides meaningful insights for China to achieve sustainable development.

A pathway to a sustainable future: Investigating the contribution of technological innovations, clean energy, and Women's empowerment in mitigating global environmental challenges

This study aims to provide insights into the pathway toward a sustainable future by investigating the factors contributing to environmental sustainability. In this pursuit, the current study empirically analyzes the role of economic growth, technological innovation, clean energy consumption, and women empowerment toward global environmental quality from 1991 to 2015. For empirical analysis, autoregressive distributive lag and fourier frequency domain causality models are employed to test the long-medium and short-run association between the selected variables. Fully modified ordinary least squares and canonical cointegration regression estimations are also applied for robustness. The empirics of this study reveal that economic growth deteriorates the environmental quality in the long and short run. However, technological innovation, clean energy consumption, and women's empowerment help improve environmental quality in the long and short run. In addition, the robust analysis also authenticates the long-run outcomes of the study. This study suggests policy recommendations aimed at a sustainable future by establishing strong regulatory policy instruments, enforcing environmental laws, promoting energy-efficient technologies in industries and households, implementing women's employment protection policies, and strong regulatory policy instruments to achieve emission reduction in the global perspective.

Research trends on development of energy efficiency and renewable energy in households: A bibliometric analysis

Households are responsible for more than one-third of global energy consumption and exert a significant environmental impact. Therefore, energy efficiency and renewable energy issues have been a top theme in the literature, with numerous studies examining different facets of residential power consumption, green energy transition, decarbonization, and energy conservation. Despite extensive attention, these research trends and frontiers remain largely uncharacterized and poorly understood. This study aims to provide clear insights into the evolution and latest trends of household energy efficiency and renewable energy studies, reveal significant contributing countries, institutions, and authors of published papers, as well as directions of international collaboration. The method of bibliometric analysis with two supporting instruments (the SciVal platform and Scopus “Analyze search results” tool) was used to investigate an array of 3,761 research items on renewable energy and 4,474 items on energy efficiency in homes formed from the Scopus database. The studied period includes papers published during 1978–2023. The systematic review indicated that the United States, the United Kingdom, and China are primarily contributing countries with strong international collaboration in this field. The top journals include Energy Policy, Energy Efficiency, Energies, and Sustainability, while highly cited researchers investigate environmental, economic, and social effects and management mechanisms for introducing innovative energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies in households like smart meters and grids or the Internet of Things. The research frontier might encompass emerging and pioneering studies on home decarbonization strategies, behavioral interventions, energy saving, prosumerism, and optimization of energy consumption. AcknowledgmentThe paper is prepared within the framework of the research project “Formation of economic mechanisms to increase energy efficiency and provide sustainable development of renewable energy in Ukraine’s households” (No. 0122U001233), funded by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine.