Project
Emerging energy practices in the smart grid
New sets of technologies - ICT-based ‘smart technology’, and renewable energy - are currently being introduced into our energy provision system at a time when the national energy grid is under increasing pressure.
In this project, I conduct research among Dutch households to reduce the uncertainty surrounding how householders will use, adapt to and appropriate these new technologies, and what consequences this entails for the relationship between users and utilities, as well as the stability, efficiency and sustainability of the energy grid. The E-practices project is part of the NWO-funded URSES project which includes Wageningen UR, Eindhoven University of Technology, Milieucentraal, Enexis and Lancaster University's DEMAND center.
More information can be found here.
Journal article 1 (open access): When social practices meet smart grids: Flexibility, grid management, and domestic consumption in The Netherlands, Robin Smale, Bas van Vliet, and Gert Spaargaren (2017), Energy Research & Social Science, Volume 34, December 2017, Pages 132-140