Transition to low-carbon economy: Assessing cumulative impacts of individual behavioral changes
Authored by Tatiana Filatova, Alexey Voinov, Leila Niamir, Hans Bressers
Date Published: 2018
DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.03.045
Sponsors:
European Union
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
Changing residential energy demand can play an essential role in
transitioning to a green economy. Environmental psychology suggests that
behavioral changes regarding energy use are affected by knowledge,
awareness, motivation and social learning. Data on various behavioral
drivers of change can explain energy use at the individual level, but it
provides little information about implications for macro energy demand
on regional or national levels. We address this challenge by presenting
a theoretically-based and empirically-driven agent based model to track
aggregated impacts of behavioral changes among heterogeneous households.
We focus on the representation of the multi-step changes in individual
energy use behavior and on a quantitative assessment of their aggregated
impacts on the regional level. We understand the behavioral complexity
of household energy use as a dynamic process unfolding in stages, and
explore the barriers for utilizing the full potential of a region for
emissions reduction. We suggest a policy mix that facilitates mutual
learning among consumers.
Tags
Agent-based model
Social networks
Agent-based modeling
multiagent systems
Decision-Making
diffusion
Policy
Technology adoption
behavior change
Efficiency
Residential energy
Low-carbon economy
Empirical-evidence
Multiagent
systems
Norm activation theory
Household energy use
Dynamic electricity tariffs
Pro-environmental
behavior
Norm activation model
Land-use models
Technology
adoption
Electricity tariffs