Version 1
: Received: 6 August 2024 / Approved: 7 August 2024 / Online: 7 August 2024 (10:55:14 CEST)
How to cite:
Hansen, A. R. Material Relations Challenge the Energy Flexibility of Washing and Charging: When Devices Compete over Plugs and Convenience Comes First. Preprints2024, 2024080502. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0502.v1
Hansen, A. R. Material Relations Challenge the Energy Flexibility of Washing and Charging: When Devices Compete over Plugs and Convenience Comes First. Preprints 2024, 2024080502. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0502.v1
Hansen, A. R. Material Relations Challenge the Energy Flexibility of Washing and Charging: When Devices Compete over Plugs and Convenience Comes First. Preprints2024, 2024080502. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0502.v1
APA Style
Hansen, A. R. (2024). Material Relations Challenge the Energy Flexibility of Washing and Charging: When Devices Compete over Plugs and Convenience Comes First. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0502.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Hansen, A. R. 2024 "Material Relations Challenge the Energy Flexibility of Washing and Charging: When Devices Compete over Plugs and Convenience Comes First" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0502.v1
Abstract
Energy demand flexibility is important to balance supply and demand in energy systems based on renewables. However, attempts to steer the timing of energy demand seem to overlook how energy practices are influenced by the wider network of things and technologies in homes. Based on photos from house visits, this paper demonstrates the importance of various material relations for the timing of energy practices to assess the potential of flexible energy demand. The study focuses on the practices of washing clothes and charging batteries using three locations of material energy flexibility; embedded flexibility refers to built-in functions, connected flexibility lies in the interplay between technologies and objects, and networked flexibility situated in systems of things, including energy infrastructure, house layout, and matter. The results show how material relations challenge energy flexibility, for example, when devices compete over plugs, stuff is in the way, and convenience is prioritized. The study suggests that the flexibility of an appliance is viewed in a wider network of things, technologies, and infrastructures, including battery capacities, and that policy pays more attention to energy flexibility in the context of material networks and that energy flexibility risks being overlooked in demands for convenience and comfort.
Keywords
Energy demand; Energy Flexibility; Energy Consumption; Material Relations;
Subject
Social Sciences, Sociology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
