Exploring the market and community acceptance of seasonal thermal energy storage technologies: Insights from a population survey in Switzerland

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science Pub Date : 2025-02-11 DOI:10.1016/j.erss.2025.103954

Rebeka Sträter , Richard Lüchinger , Guillaume Zumofen

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) is a key technology to address the seasonal intermittency of renewable energy sources and decarbonise the energy sector. Different STES solutions are market-ready or being developed, resulting in a diverse technology landscape. While this diversity adds complexity, it also presents a valuable feature that can support STES diffusion by offering adaptable solutions for diverse needs and preferences. We add a social acceptance lens to STES and examine how laypeople of the general public evaluate different STES technologies at a building and district level. We do so in a proactive manner, i.e., investigating technology acceptance before its (widespread) popularity and diffusion, to capture and compare initial acceptance patterns of STES technologies and derive potential implications of STES and its technological diversity. Empirically, we analyse and present novel cross-section survey data collected in 2022 and 2023 among Swiss residents (N = 589), capturing market and community acceptance of five different STES technologies. Our results suggest that STES technologies exhibit different ‘starting points’ regarding acceptance, with borehole, water and, to a certain extent, latent heat energy storage technologies reaching higher acceptance than ice and thermochemical energy storage technologies.

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来源期刊

Energy Research & Social Science ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES-

CiteScore

14.00

自引率

16.40%

发文量

441

审稿时长

55 days

期刊介绍： Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) is a peer-reviewed international journal that publishes original research and review articles examining the relationship between energy systems and society. ERSS covers a range of topics revolving around the intersection of energy technologies, fuels, and resources on one side and social processes and influences - including communities of energy users, people affected by energy production, social institutions, customs, traditions, behaviors, and policies - on the other. Put another way, ERSS investigates the social system surrounding energy technology and hardware. ERSS is relevant for energy practitioners, researchers interested in the social aspects of energy production or use, and policymakers. Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) provides an interdisciplinary forum to discuss how social and technical issues related to energy production and consumption interact. Energy production, distribution, and consumption all have both technical and human components, and the latter involves the human causes and consequences of energy-related activities and processes as well as social structures that shape how people interact with energy systems. Energy analysis, therefore, needs to look beyond the dimensions of technology and economics to include these social and human elements.