Energy Research & Social Science最新文献

{"title":"Subdued by wind and solar? A comprehensive analysis of barriers to biogas technology uptake","authors":"Abiola Gboyega Kehinde ,&nbsp;Harro von Blottnitz","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104326","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104326","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A decade ago, biogas had become a promising clean energy resource for the global transition to sustainability. Biogas technology can convert organic materials, including municipal, industrial, and agricultural wastes, as well as purpose-grown crops, into methane as an energy carrier. The digestate can be used as fertiliser to provide plant nutrients and restore soil fertility. Despite its potential, the global deployment rate of biogas has slowed since. A systematic literature review is presented to identify, evaluate, compare, and synthesise articles published since 2015 on barriers to the uptake of biogas technology from a global perspective. The analysis distinguishes between small, medium and large-scale biogas installations and between low, lower-middle, upper-middle and high-income countries. Barriers are classified as institutional, technological, economic, market, information, environmental, socio-cultural, and technical, referred to as the ITEMIEST framework. Information and socio-cultural barriers are mentioned more often in small and medium-scale biogas, whilst institutional, technological, economic, market and technical barriers dominate for large-scale projects. Whilst the review classifies and analyses the multiple barriers reported, it is noted that to date, there is no study analysing the effect of sharply decreasing prices of wind and solar PV technologies and their associated exponential deployment as an important driver of the slowdown of new biogas projects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 104326"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145047885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Home energy efficiency upgrades are easy right?! A systematic review of factors influencing homeowner behaviour across multiple levels","authors":"Celine Klemm ,&nbsp;Mark Boulet ,&nbsp;Diki Tsering ,&nbsp;Liam Smith","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104322","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104322","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The building sector contributes almost one third of global CO2 emissions. Supporting energy efficiency upgrades in residential homes could provide significant emissions reductions, while also improving thermal comfort and health outcomes for homeowners. Numerous government policies and programs now seek to accelerate the adoption of home energy upgrades. Their success, however, is partially dependent on a range of homeowner behaviours and requires a deep understanding of the factors that influence them. This paper systematically reviews the current evidence base related to energy upgrade behaviours and their influencing factors from a multi-level perspective and organises the different factors at different levels (or contexts). We highlight current skews in the evidence base towards certain upgrade behaviours and propose a new multi-level framework of home energy efficiency upgrade behaviours. This framework explicitly recognises the combined influence and potential interplay of influencing factors at different levels, from which upgrade behaviours emerge. We conclude by suggesting future research directions and policy implications for supporting energy efficiency upgrades in homes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 104322"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145026980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"When waste becomes a resource: Applying a circular economy framework to nuclear power decommissioning","authors":"T. Perko ,&nbsp;R. Geysmans ,&nbsp;C. Turcanu ,&nbsp;Gabriela Román-Ross ,&nbsp;Maia Vercelli","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104320","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104320","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The term “circular economy” (CE) has been used inconsistently in nuclear decommissioning, leading to potential misinterpretations and mismatches between CE definitions and practices. With numerous nuclear installations worldwide requiring decommissioning, a clear and consolidated definition of CE, along with relevant dimensions and indicators, is needed to enable transition from the prevailing linear approach to a more sustainable and circular one. This study addresses two key questions: How can CE be defined in the context of nuclear decommissioning to ensure clarity and consistency? What key indicators can assess the practical implementation of CE in decommissioning? A two-round Delphi study was conducted in 2024 with nine experts to address these questions. The findings were validated through a facilitated Group discussion with 19 stakeholders, including industry professionals, operators, authorities, and researchers. The results provide a unified definition of CE in nuclear decommissioning and measurable indicators covering societal, environmental, health and safety, techno-economic, and legal dimensions. This study offers actionable insights for regulators, practitioners and policymakers, facilitating the integration CE principles and the comprehensive evaluation of circularity in nuclear decommissioning processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 104320"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144931569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The eternal promise of carbon capture, utilisation and storage: Is there a business case?","authors":"Katariina Buure","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104308","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104308","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies are often described as essential tools for meeting global climate goals and are regularly included in international climate strategies. However, their large-scale implementation remains limited, raising questions about their practical viability. This research examines how CCUS technologies and their commercial promise have evolved over time. To trace changing narratives and expectations, publicly available scientific and technical reports published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency between 1990 and 2023 were analysed. In addition, practical insights were gathered through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from academia and business to assess current views on CCUS deployment and its commercial potential. Findings indicate that while interest in CCUS technologies has grown over time, actual deployment continues to lag far behind the levels required to meet earlier projections and climate targets. Financial and regulatory challenges remain persistent obstacles. By combining document analysis with stakeholder insights, this research contributes to the understanding of the structural and discursive factors that shape the persistent gap between CCUS’s theoretical promise and its real-world outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 104308"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144916531","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The legacy of the cod fishery collapse: Understanding wind energy acceptance in Newfoundland through energy justice and place","authors":"Jessica L. Hogan","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104274","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104274","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As renewable energy grows globally, understanding community acceptance of wind energy projects is crucial for ensuring a fair and equitable energy future. Procedural and distributional justice have been widely identified as central to shaping community acceptance. However, there are increasing calls to examine how local historical context plays a role not only in influencing acceptance but also in how residents rationalise their justice considerations. Drawing on energy justice and place attachment/disruption theory, this study investigates how historical experiences with resource development influence perceptions of fairness and acceptance of onshore wind energy in Newfoundland, Canada. Based on semi-structured interviews (<em>n</em> = 22) and surveys (<em>n</em> = 146) with residents living near existing wind projects, this study finds high acceptance of current projects (76–100 %), but a distinct pattern of ‘sceptical optimism’ toward future developments. On one hand, residents' attachment to their once-thriving communities and positive experiences with current wind projects contribute to support for future development. On the other, residents' optimism is tempered by hard-learned lessons from the previous resource developments. The findings underscore the need to integrate recognition justice and local historical context more fully into energy justice and acceptance frameworks, highlighting how past (in)justices inform both community support and the evolving understanding of fairness of energy transitions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 104274"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144916529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Technology, people, and place in microgrids: Addressing perceptions and engagement challenges for a rural Australian town","authors":"Farzan Tahir ,&nbsp;Scott Dwyer ,&nbsp;Scott Kelly ,&nbsp;Franziska Mey","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104305","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104305","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Microgrids are emerging as a promising technological solution for providing reliable, sustainable, and cost-effective electricity to regional and remote communities. However, successful microgrid implementation necessitates not only technical and economic feasibility but also social acceptance within the communities where they are deployed. This paper presents a case study of a microgrid feasibility project in Victoria, Australia, employing a mixed-methods design to analyse community perceptions of microgrids and the role of engagement strategies in promoting community acceptance or leading to conflicts. Drawing on empirical findings from in-depth interviews (<em>n</em> = 13) and a community survey (<em>n</em> = 62), this research investigates the challenges and lessons associated with engaging a local community when investigating the feasibility of a proposed microgrid. The findings highlight the significant influence of place-based factors and community dynamics on project perception and social acceptance, emphasising the need for tailored engagement strategies that foster collaboration and maximise community participation. While best practices of community engagement do not guarantee community acceptance, this research demonstrates that proactive engagement and transparent communication can effectively address concerns and cultivate support for microgrid initiatives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 104305"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144916530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How do policies drive China's hydrogen energy industrialization? A comparative analysis of policy across central and regional governments (2016–2024)","authors":"Yongzhang Liu ,&nbsp;Kaishan Huang ,&nbsp;Qinxu Huang ,&nbsp;Quande Qin","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104311","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104311","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hydrogen energy, pivotal in achieving China's “Dual Carbon” target, has garnered substantial policy attention in recent years. Despite the positive development of the hydrogen energy industry driven by policies, the dynamic implementation process of hydrogen energy policies in the interaction between central and local policies is not yet clear. This research addresses the critical gap in understanding how multilevel governance shapes energy transition implementation by analyzing the interplay between national strategies and regional adaptation. In this study, we construct a three-dimensional policy analysis framework (policy instruments-policy objectives-industry chain segments) from the perspective of intergovernmental relations to comprehensively sort out and comparatively analyze the policies of China's central and regional governments from 2016 to 2024. Through systematic examination of 125 national and 449 regional policies, focusing on Yangtze River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as representative regions, our findings reveal the following key points: (1) China's high degree of centralization effectively guarantees the execution of top-down prioritized strategies for hydrogen energy industrialization. (2) Regions at the forefront of hydrogen energy development have adjusted and formulated distinctive hydrogen energy policy layouts based on their own unique resource endowments. (3) A pattern of competition and cooperation prevails among and within regions, balancing efficiency and synergy in the development of hydrogen energy. These findings demonstrate how China's governance model creates a unique approach that enables rapid policy deployment while accommodating regional diversity and innovation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 104311"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144907494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Energy at the fair: County fair sponsorship patterns from the energy sector in the United States","authors":"Ana Martinez,&nbsp;Pranav Moudgalya,&nbsp;Dustin Tingley","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104245","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104245","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>County fairs are a common feature in the American social landscape. As with many local social institutions, companies and other organizations have a chance to sponsor county fairs. These sponsorships help put on the fairs and give organizations an opportunity to advertise and signal to the local community their involvement. In this paper, we review the small literature on the motivations and effects of sponsorships and then turn to a set of empirical questions. First, we examine the distribution of sponsors from the energy sector and compare the sponsorship patterns of traditional fossil fuel companies and those of firms working in the renewable energy sector. Our sample of US counties covers counties with active fossil and or renewable energy sectors. We also collected all counties in several states and all state-wide fairs. Second, we use a national survey to examine perceptions of sponsorships and support for companies that do or do not sponsor county fairs. Finally, we leave the fair and catalog and compare how large fossil fuel and renewable energy firms display community engagement efforts on their websites to understand how communities may perceive companies, as well as to provide a lens on the extent to which these companies prioritize community-level investments. By and large, we find that renewable energy has a decidedly lower sponsorship and community engagement presence compared to fossil fuel companies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 104245"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144916532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Household carbon caps and tariffs: A living lab experiment","authors":"Leandra Scharnhorst ,&nbsp;Thorben Sandmeier ,&nbsp;Max Kleinebrahm ,&nbsp;Wolf Fichtner","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104294","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104294","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Transnational efforts to combat climate change are intensifying, with Germany targeting net-zero emissions by 2045. The residential sector is a significant CO₂ emitter but lacks direct mitigation strategies, such as personal carbon budgeting and trading, which are common in industry. Although theoretical research on personal carbon trading exists, real-world household-level studies are scarce. This study addresses that gap by examining the implementation of household carbon caps and tariffs in a living lab experiment. Conducted in the Energy Smart Home Lab, the experiment involved three households under weekly carbon caps, with the option to purchase additional allowances under two different tariffs. In two households, photovoltaic feed-in was accounted for to incentivize load shifting and maximize self-consumption. Additionally, participants were encouraged through economic and non-economic incentives to adhere to a 2 kW power limit during simulated grid congestion. Real-time energy consumption monitoring and weekly interviews provided insights into how participants responded to the imposed carbon limits and power restrictions. Essential household activities, such as cooking and heating, occasionally took precedence over economic motivations, leading to breaches of the power limit. As weekly carbon emission caps were reduced by 45 % to 75 % by the end of the intervention, participants faced substantial challenges, compounded by unmodifiable appliance emissions and external pressures like exams. Although limited in sample size, this study is the first to combine carbon caps, tariffs, real-time feedback, and photovoltaic-based incentives in a living lab setting.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 104294"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144907495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modeling stakeholder interactions for post-disaster electric power restoration: A multi-agent and game-theoretic approach","authors":"Rui Shao ,&nbsp;Chao Fan","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104307","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104307","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Efficient post-disaster electric power restoration, under resource constraints, is essential for economic continuity and recovery. While existing studies emphasize the technical feasibility of power restoration, they frequently overlook how households' responses and utility companies' strategic priorities either reinforce or obstruct utility-led restoration efforts. To this end, this study presents a multi-agent simulation approach that integrates hazard modeling, grid fragility, household-level tolerance regarding outages, and a stochastic game-theoretic decision process to model stakeholder interactions and the effects on the efficiency of utility-led electric power restoration. The approach evaluates utilities' daily decisions in allocating labor resources for repair and recovery between economic and residential needs, alongside households' adaptation and feedback, which, in turn, affect the consumption and workforce availability. The approach is validated with field data collected from Hurricane Harvey in Harris County, Texas in 2017. The results show that household decision-making can act as a powerful feedback mechanism, shaping restoration trajectories and the ultimate outcomes of economic recovery. Specifically, a flexible “conditional” cooperation model, where households adjust their behaviors based on the utility's actions, proved most effective in the process of electric power restoration process. Paired with residential-first repair, the model yields a 65.6 % power restoration and 25.9 % economic recovery within 30 days. In contrast, a business-focused strategy, which prioritize electric restoration in industrial sectors, is often combined with low household cooperation and yields significantly worse outcomes, with only 31.8 % power restoration and 7.2 % economic recovery. Our results consistently show that prioritizing residential areas is optimal for both power restoration and long-term economic recovery. This socio-technical framework offers policymakers, utility managers, and community stakeholders a robust and replicable tool to anticipate the cascading consequences of their decisions, enhancing the energy system resilience and effectiveness in disaster recovery strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"127 ","pages":"Article 104307"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144907271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}