Adoption Of Renewable Energy Technologies Research Articles

“A Heat Pump Needs a Bit of Care”: On Maintainability and Repairing Gender–Technology Relations

As part of current energy transitions in the Global North, households have begun adopting renewable energy technologies, such as heat pumps and solar power systems, in significant numbers. These changes give rise to the following question: how are technology and gender configured when new technologies enter everyday life? Based upon ethnographic fieldwork on interactions between households, technologies, and technicians and interviews with sales technicians, installers, and service mechanics, I demonstrate how both stable and fragile variants of renewable energy technologies are enacted during prepurchase consultations and postpurchase installations, respectively. I employ science and technology studies scholarship, feminist ethics, and repair and maintenance studies—captured through the analytical lens of care—to analyze how technicians mobilize and tinker with gendered affection, knowledge, and action in households to effectuate adoption of renewable energy technologies. I clarify how, in this process, openings are created to configure both hegemonic and heterogeneous gender–technology relations. Finally, I advance discussion beyond gender issues by arguing that acknowledging the role of maintainability and the repair of user–technology relations in current energy transitions opens pathways not only for exploring gender in new and exciting ways in relation to technology but technician–user relationships as well.

A Strategic Management Framework for the Commercialization of Multitechnology Renewable Energy Systems: The Case of Concentrating Solar Power in South Africa

Globally, the importance of sustainable development is recognized due to a number of interconnected social, environmental, and economic challenges. One of the key tenets of sustainable development is the introduction of clean energy, and specifically renewable energy technologies (RETs). To accelerate the adoption of RETs, however, requires the rate of commercialization of such technologies to increase; classified as multitechnology renewable energy systems (MTRESs) due to the hierarchical nature of such systems, with differing commercialization-based needs. A strategic management framework was subsequently developed as a means to support the establishment of strategies for increasing the commercialization rate of MTRESs, and applied to the case of concentrating solar power in South Africa. The framework serves as a proof-of-concept, given the current industry constraints due to political uncertainties in the energy sector of the country, as well as the type of validation process followed, with the framework yet to be practically implemented. This article encourages dialogue on how different stakeholders may be mobilized in the interests of a given technology, while continuing a recent trend in literature, which seeks to move the conversation from energy analysis to practical measures, aimed at hastening efforts towards a sustainable energy transition.

A system dynamics model for renewable energy technology adoption of the hotel sector

Promoting renewable energy technology (RET) adoption among the hotel sector would reduce its emissions given that the hotel sector consumes high amounts of electricity. Previous research suggests that the adoption of RET in the hotel sector includes an interplay between incentive policies, technology advancement, tourist behaviour and hotelier perception of RET. However, a quantitative model is needed to triangulate the results. System dynamics simulation, in conjunction with the Generalized Bass model, was used to model RET adoption for the hotel sector in Queensland, Australia. The sensitivity analysis was used to determine the leverage point(s) of RET adoption. The results demonstrated that the adoption rate follows the S-curve growth only when the market condition is favourable; technology performance leverages RET adoption more than the government incentives; and hotelier and tourist perceptions act as market accelerators, triggering more adopters to follow suit.

Sustainable entrepreneurship development in the renewable energy sector: Insights from Gujarat, India

Sustainable development lies at the heart of sustainable entrepreneurship. In the context of this view, the current paper explores the linkages among sustainable development, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Since Gujarat ranks among the five top Indian states in terms of renewable energy (RE) potential, we studied this sector using a case study approach. The study explores factors that affects the shift from conventional to sustainable entrepreneurship. These factors include major opportunities, as well as challenges for RE entrepreneurs. The findings suggest that RE entrepreneurs are driven by a mix of economic, personal commitment for the environment and social concerns. Institutional support in the form of skill development programmes, subsidies and easing entry level barriers to RE serve as opportunities for entrepreneurs. Technological expertise is another enabler for RE entrepreneurship. Major challenges identified in this study include inadequate access to formal and institutional finance, especially for start-ups, bureaucratic obstacles, limited number of government-accredited certification labs, and inconsistency in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) guidelines. Knowledge barriers in the form of lack of information regarding usage, maintenance and utility of solar technologies are also challenges for this sector. Technological risks related to the adoption of RE technologies also puts them at a cost disadvantage in comparison to conventional technologies.

Technical investigation of Nepalese electricity market – A review

The article reviews the options of renewable energy technologies with the background of long-lasting power shortages that Nepal has been facing and examines the energy-related policies of Nepal and provisions to promote renewable energy technologies in Nepal and its regulatory framework. It analyses the pertinent energy policies related to energy generation and distribution. The research focuses on the context of the renewable energy sector of Nepal and its future. The research has found a positive role in renewable energy policies for adoption of renewable energy technologies and poses a positive impact on electricity generation. The article has also reviewed and analyzed the trend of electricity generation, peak demand and the resulted import to meet the gap. The almost linear electricity generation of Nepal Electricity Authority (including generation of Individual Power Producers against the steep gradient of peak power demand has ultimately increased the power purchase from India pushing towards unsustainability. It shows that energy policies are not up to the optimal. The research has further analyzed the impact of per capita GDP on electricity per capita by regression analysis. The analysis has found, higher the GDP per capita would increase the consumption of electricity per capita. The paper discusses issues and barriers for promotion of rural electrification and suggested economical, technical and geographical to be the three most pertinent barriers in developing countries.

Rural Public Acceptance of Wind and Solar Energy: A Case Study from Mersing, Malaysia

The sustainable development of the energy sector through the implementation of renewable energy (RE) technology has been a primary concern for the government of Malaysia since the 1990s. Developing RE technology in rural areas is also one of the most important energy strategies. One of the most important requirements for the successful adoption of renewable energy technology is the public acceptance of this technology. This article examines the public acceptance of RE (wind and solar) technologies among rural residents in Mersing, Malaysia. This study is conducted in conjunction with the development of the hybrid wind–solar RE generation system for the Marine Ecosystem Research Centre (EKOMAR), which located in Mersing. To investigate the public acceptance of RE technologies, two surveys were conducted, before and after the installation of the hybrid wind–solar RE generation system. The findings revealed that RE innovations, such as wind and solar energy, were well known among 54.7% and 96.2% of the respondents, respectively, before and after the introduction of EKOMAR. The survey results showed that rural residents generally support RE technologies and EKOMAR RE projects. They were also in line that the use of RE should also be extended to other parts of Mersing, including wind and solar. These findings illustrate that EKOMAR has played a crucial role in educating local residents about RE, wind and solar energy in particular. Residents believe the government plays an important role, particularly in rural areas, in encouraging and enhancing RE technologies.

Examining the Key Drivers of Residential Solar Adoption in Upstate New York

This research examines the decision factors influencing adoption of residential solar electric power systems in upstate New York. New York has a goal to provide 100% of electric energy in the State through renewable resources, which includes solar electricity, by 2030. Thus, identifying the most important decision factors may be useful in understanding potential means of promoting solar technology adoption. Through an online survey of homeowners in upstate New York who have installed residential solar systems, the research examined the importance of decision factors influencing the decision to adopt and how factors have changed over time. The research finds that environmental motivations are slightly more important than economics and that perception of solar installers is also important to adopters. This work contributes new insights to the field of research examining solar and renewable energy technology adoption at the residential scale, addresses the role of policy in promoting solar adoption, and provides insights for developers and others looking to enhance the rates of solar technology adoption at the residential scale.

Identifying gaps and overlaps of intermediary support during the adoption of renewable energy technology in Sweden – A conceptual framework

This paper provides new understanding on how intermediary actors support the adoption of renewable electricity technology. While intermediaries complement each other in different phases of the process, there are also gaps and overlaps in the support that they provide. Results indicate that there is a great need of improving the communication among intermediaries and of a higher level of coordination among the tasks performed.Fostering the widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies is one of the most important drivers to limit the irreversible consequences of global warming that the world is facing today. However, the process of adopting such innovations is often complex and challenging. Previous studies have recognized the crucial role of intermediaries in facilitating the adoption process. Yet, little is known about how different intermediaries support the various adoption process phases, which intermediary type does what, and whether there are support gaps or overlaps among them. The authors of this paper contribute to previous research on innovation adoption and innovation intermediaries based upon research on the adoption context of renewable energy technologies in Sweden. They gathered secondary data and semi-structured interviews with nineteen intermediaries who support the adoption process of renewable energy technologies. The finding of this paper has implications on policy design, with regard, to how intermediaries can better perform in a technology diffusion context and to how intermediaries can be coordinated to provide better services during the different phases of the adoption process.

Assessing the effectiveness of China’s net-metering subsidies for household distributed photovoltaic systems

Consumer incentives play a vital role in promoting the adoption of renewable energy technology. In China, the government implemented a single, nation-wide net-metering subsidy to cultivate the distributed photovoltaic electricity generation market in 2013 and then had to reduce it twice due to the falling cost of photovoltaic modules and the large resultant financial gap. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether these subsidy adjustments were accurate, and also to identify the factors affecting the subsidy design. We applied a techno-economic evaluation to examine the actual market performance of China’s household distributed photovoltaic system in five typical cities with different levels of solar radiation and electricity consumption patterns, and then investigated the subsidy policy’s effectiveness through a cost-benefit analysis. The results show that a 3–7 kW photovoltaic capacity in different regions of solar radiation can meet the residential electricity demand. We found that the examination of net-metering effectiveness should consider both regional difference in solar radiation and the different levels of electricity demand. Additionally, the cost-benefit analysis also indicated that a reasonable, regionally differentiated metering subsidy should be in the range of 0.05–0.27 yuan/kWh.

Slow diffusion of renewable energy technologies in China: An empirical analysis from the perspective of innovation system

Renewable energy is particularly important for achieving energy security and emission reduction targets. However, China’s renewable energy technologies are still diffusing slowly. Based on the two-part model and the fixed-effect Tobit model, this paper investigates the factors affecting the diffusion of renewable energy technologies in 28 provinces in China between 2006 and 2017 from the perspective of an innovation system. It is found that increasing the renewable energy tariff surcharge subsidy, the share of relevant employees, and grid density will drive the diffusion of renewable energy technologies. Reducing the share of coal consumption will increase the probability of adoption of renewable energy technologies. Furthermore, a certain province’s or other provinces’ renewable energy technology patent stocks both provide the knowledge infrastructure for the increase in the share of renewable energy generation. In contrast, the crowding-out effect of foreign direct investment will hinder the expansion of renewable energy generation share. Therefore, the failures in the six aspects of institutional design, market structure, personnel factor, external interaction, knowledge infrastructure, and physical infrastructure, will lead to the slow diffusion of renewable energy technologies.

Adoption of renewable energy technologies (RETs) using a mixed-method approach

Purpose This paper aims to propose that the socio-technical perspective is under-represented when appraising the adoption potential of renewable energy technologies (RETs) in late-industrialising countries and that this results in under-adoption. It also aims to identify a methodological approach that allows the socio-technical perspective to be integrated into management decision-making, alongside the more typical economic appraisal methodology. Design/methodology/approach A case study and novel mixed-methodology approach is used, which applies the diffusion of innovations framework, innovation system (IS) framework and system dynamics modelling (SDM) alongside traditional economic modelling and appraisal techniques. This approach is used to assess the adoption potential of solar photovoltaic (PV) and diesel water pumping systems in the wildlife conservation sector and surrounding rural communities in Kenya. The case study approach tests the merits of the mixed-methodology approach. Findings The life-cycle costs of solar PV water pumping systems are lower in nearly all financing and utilisation scenarios; offer additional social, technical and environmental benefits; and the conditions exist for greater adoption. The use of an integrated diffusion of innovations and IS framework generates significant qualitative data that can support management decision-making. The use of SDM techniques aid conceptualisation of the community economic, water and institutional systems into which water pumps may be diffused and provide a starting point for formal SDM simulation. The results suggest that these techniques capture the socio-technical perspective well and, when used alongside traditional project appraisal approaches, produce more complete information with which to support management decision-making. Originality/value This mixed-methodology approach could be used by practitioners to increase the diffusion and adoption of RETs in more complex contexts in late-industrialising countries. The emergent theory built through the case-study approach should be tested further to assess the merits of applying these techniques to support RET management decision-making in other contexts and more broadly.

DOES INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTION CONSTITUTE A BARRIER TO RENEWABLE ENERGY? AN ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS

This study uses an econometric approach to investigate the role of IPR protection on renewable energy adoption using panel data of 102 countries at five-year intervals over the period 1990–2005. The Ginarte-Park index is used as a measure of the strength of intellectual property protection while the adoption of renewable energy is measured by the share of renewable energy in total final energy use. The results reveal that the level of intellectual property rights protection and reform of the intellectual property rights regime do not have significant impact on renewable energy adoption, suggesting that IPR protection is not a cause for concern in the global quest for clean energy transition. On the contrary, we find that trade openness has a stronger influence in the transition to clean energy. Based on the findings of the study, we conclude that IPR protection does not influence renewable energy adoption except in high R&D countries; rather policy makers should concentrate efforts on economic factors, such as trade openness, that drive the adoption of renewable energy technologies.

Factors Affecting Public Willingness to Adopt Renewable Energy Technologies: An Exploratory Analysis

Renewable energy has become an important element of today’s modern technology targeting high-efficiency energy production. As part of its 2030 Vision, Saudi Arabia is aiming to increase its energy production through renewable sources. The purpose of this research study is to explore the factors affecting public willingness to adopt renewable energy technologies in the western region of Saudi Arabia. This was achieved through an extensive literature review of previous studies conducted worldwide and resulted in the extraction of 19 factors that affect public willingness to adopt renewable energy technologies. Following a quantitative research design, random cross-sectional data of 416 participants using the extracted factors were collected via an online questionnaire survey. Following a dimension reduction statistical approach, key components were extracted with exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis. Five main components clustering the 19 extracted factors were revealed: cost and government regulations and policies, public awareness and local market, environment and public infrastructure, residential building, and renewable energy technology systems. The implications of this research study assist in guiding governments, regulations and policy makers, marketing agencies, and investors to better understand the concerns and enablers of renewable energy technologies adoption from the public perspective.

A systems approach to examining the drivers and barriers of renewable energy technology adoption in the hotel sector in Queensland, Australia

The adoption of renewable energy technology (RET) in the hotel sector is low, despite the technology's potential to reduce a hotel's energy consumption and carbon emissions. Previous research has explored selected aspects of RET adoption in hotels, but a comprehensive and systemic analysis is missing. This research uses a systems approach, which allows examination of a wide range of dynamics and complexities, including feedback mechanisms that influence system behaviour over time. The model was developed using the structural analysis method and causal loop diagramming in conjunction with theories of diffusion and patterns of innovation. The aim was to enhance our understanding of the hotel energy system, with a focus on drivers and barriers to RET adoption in the sector. The results demonstrate that the uptake of RET by hotels reflects an interplay between incentive policy, hotel owner/manager perceptions of RET, tourists' behaviour, technology advancement and electricity grid price. The analysis also uncovers the dynamics of key drivers that, under different circumstances, can also become barriers. The insights generated from the analysis validate the use of systems thinking to capture the complexities and dynamics of interactions.

Renewable Energy: Scenario and Model of Development

The article is a study of the situation on the global solar energy market and the features of designing and planning power plants based on variable renewable energy, and provides a SWOT analysis and conditions for including renewable energy into the fuel and energy balance of the republic, and also factors affecting the widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies. In addition, the scenario and model of developing renewable energy in Uzbekistan are suggested.

Advancement of Renewable Energy Technology in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region: Prevailing Schemes, Consumer Feedback, Barriers and Future Scope

Present manuscript is a statistics-based approach towards the progression of Renewable Energy Technologies in the financial capital of India, Mumbai and the metro-city ecosystem that is based around Mumbai termed as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Factors which present themselves as bottlenecks and roadblocks towards the adoption of Renewable Energy Technologies by the populace of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region have been statistically analysed. 53% responses were in favour of installing Renewable Energy Technology however, 63% respondents had no awareness regarding Renewable Energy Schemes formulated by the Government of India. The authors of this manuscript have found parameters such as origin, awareness, educational background, usage of electricity and support for Renewable Energy Technology are some of the factors which are taken in account in this manuscript. Corrective measures have also been suggested to the authorities by the authors of this paper so that full utilization of schemes and subsidies provided by the Government of India to the citizens of the Mumbai Metropolitan region may be adopted and used to make India a negative carbon footprint nation.

What's wrong with science? Has science become a (contested) belief system?

Purpose: Disagreement with scientific evidence is manifest across a wide range of issues impacting on health, well-being and environmental issues. The purpose of this discussion is to review the nature of the disagreement across three broad sectors - climate change, vaccine hesitancy and adoption of renewable energy technology - highlighting commonalities in the rejection of scientific consensus and in the way opposition is organised and communicated. Approach: The paper reviews the literature relating to scientific disagreement, the challenges of scientific certainty, weaknesses in relevant theories, and a range of challenges to effective scientific communication. A brief analysis of government and sceptics’ websites is provided to illustrate these challenges. Findings: There are distinct differences between the approaches taken by governmental communicators and sceptics, with implications for the way that risk and uncertainty should be communicated in future. Recommendations for improving communications to lay audiences are provided together with directions for future research.

Forecasting of advertising effectiveness for renewable energy technologies: A neural network analysis

The adoption of renewable energy technologies (RETs) as a sustainable practice in the residential construction sector depends on promotional efforts. With a modeling-based contribution, this research aims to analyze advertising effectiveness in the context of RETs adoption regarding solar water heaters. The study is based on a survey of 398 Iranian citizens. A neural network analysis was employed to identify advertising effectiveness in terms of the AIDA framework. The results indicated that the neural network is able to predict the relationships among advertising effectiveness indices; namely attention, interest, desire in the RETs setting, and action. According to the neural network analysis, attention was found to be the most significant predictor of action, followed by interest and desire.

Are Renewables as Friendly to Humans as to the Environment?: A Social Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Electricity

The adoption of renewable energy technologies in developing nations is recognized to have positive environmental impacts; however, what are their effects on the electricity supply chain workers? This article provides a quantitative analysis on this question through a relatively new framework called social life cycle assessment, taking Malaysia as a case example. Impact assessments by the authors show that electricity from renewables has greater adverse impacts on supply chain workers than the conventional electricity mix: Electricity production with biomass requires 127% longer labor hours per unit-electricity under the risk of human rights violations, while the solar photovoltaic requires 95% longer labor hours per unit-electricity. However, our assessment also indicates that renewables have less impacts per dollar-spent. In fact, the impact of solar photovoltaic would be 60% less than the conventional mix when it attains grid parity. The answer of “are renewables as friendly to humans as to the environment?” is “not-yet, but eventually.”

Geographical proximity and renewable energy diffusion: An empirical approach

In an era where achieving both economic growth and environmental sustainability is paramount, the role of technology diffusion remains an important one. Recent literature explores the link between geographical proximity and the adoption and diffusion of climate change adaptation policies. However, it has generally focused on a restricted set of developed countries and focused on the diffusion of policy instrument rather than the outcome of the policies. In this paper, we argue that domestic intensity of adoption of renewable energy technologies is likely to be affected by the adoption pattern in neighbouring countries. Additionally, this effect is likely to be stronger when important trade partners are intensive adopters of renewable energies. To test these hypotheses, we construct an index that captures a distance-weighted measure of intensity of renewable energies in other countries and apply a fixed effects framework to a panel of up to 116 countries over the (1980–2012) period. Our results confirm the existence of a geographic spill-over effect on the intensity of adoption of renewable energy technologies. Moreover, this effect is stronger when intensive adopters of renewable energies are also important trading partners, highlighting the relevance of trade channel as a potential catalyst of the diffusion of renewable energies across countries.