Seminar: Emerging energy practices around decentralised storage of electricity.
Wednesday 27th April 2016 16.00-18.00
D72/MR11 FASS, Lancaster University
All Welcome
In this seminar, Wageningen and Eindhoven University researchers Sanneke Kloppenburg and Nick Verkade will present the overarching research proposal and their plans for fieldwork in the UK. They will also reflect on some of the first findings from their interviews and document study on community energy storage as a distinct storage mode in the UK.
Storage is often identified as a key component of the future low-carbon electricity system. In this project we focus on the wider social aspects of adding small-scale storage capacity to smart grids. For one, adding storage will challenge the existing distribution of tasks and responsibilities in smart energy systems. Second, (new) energy practices may emerge around storage, such as charging, energy management, and the trading, monitoring and consuming of stored energy. Moreover, new services and connections will develop around storage, smart mobility and energy communities.
The project examines the design and implementation of several modes of storage in actual households or communities in three different countries: The Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Modes of storage refer to specific sociotechnical systems that allocate and distribute roles and responsibilities and costs and benefits in particular ways.
“Our aim is to understand the different roles of end-users in the design and use of electricity storage and the (potential) social and environmental consequences of different storage modes.”