Why neighbors matter in the energy transition: The diffusion of social practices, technologies, and knowledge between municipalities

Abstract

The energy transition requires new conceptual frames to understand the emergence of new spatial patterns and developing new geographies of energy. This article uses Hungary as a case study to examine the role of spatial dependency for the household energy mix, especially for traditional heating fuels, and the adoption of modern technologies such as heat pumps, solar collectors and panels. Theoretically, the article expands the use of the energy ladder, and understanding of social practices around energy technology diffusion. The Global and Local Moran I are used to test for the spatial autocorrelation, to identify hot and cold spots of different fuels, and for clustering the municipalities. Spatial (LAG) model is developed to determine the main drivers of the low-quality fuel use. The results indicate that beyond socio-economic indicators, spatial location also has a significant impact on household energy use and households with a similar energy mix are spatially concentrated. Municipalities, just as households, occupy different levels of the energy ladder. These findings confirm the need for spatially concentrated and localized energy policies for the just energy transition.