IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v12y2019i21p4125-d281410.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Conceptualizing Household Energy Metabolism: A Methodological Contribution

Author

Listed:
  • Adél Strydom

    (School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa)

  • Josephine Kaviti Musango

    (School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa)

  • Paul K. Currie

    (School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
    ICLEI Africa, Cape Town 7441, South Africa)

Abstract

Urban metabolism assessments enable the quantification of resource flows, which is useful for finding intervention points for sustainability. At a household level, energy metabolism assessments can reveal intervention points to reshape household energy consumption and inform decision-makers about a more sustainable urban energy system. However, a gap in the current urban metabolism research reveals that existing household energy consumption studies focus on outflows in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, and have been mostly undertaken at the city or national level. To address this gap, this study developed a method to assess household energy metabolism focusing on direct energy inflows in the form of carriers, and through-flows in the form of services, to identify intervention points for sustainability. Then, this method was applied to assess the energy metabolism of different households in Cape Town, South Africa, as categorized by income groups. The study argued that the developed method is useful for undertaking bottom–up household energy metabolic assessments in both formal and informal city settings in which more than one energy carrier is used. In cities where only national or city-level data exists, it provides a method for understanding how different households consume different energy carriers differently.

Suggested Citation

  • Adél Strydom & Josephine Kaviti Musango & Paul K. Currie, 2019. "Conceptualizing Household Energy Metabolism: A Methodological Contribution," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-19, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:21:p:4125-:d:281410
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/21/4125/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/21/4125/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhou, Bin & Li, Wentao & Chan, Ka Wing & Cao, Yijia & Kuang, Yonghong & Liu, Xi & Wang, Xiong, 2016. "Smart home energy management systems: Concept, configurations, and scheduling strategies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 30-40.
    2. Zachary Patterson & Michel Bierlaire, 2010. "Development of Prototype Urbansim Models," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 37(2), pages 344-366, April.
    3. Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2011. "Conceptualizing urban household energy use: Climbing the "Energy Services Ladder"," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1659-1668, March.
    4. Henri C. Moll & Klaas Jan Noorman & Rixt Kok & Rebecka Engström & Harald Throne‐Holst & Charlotte Clark, 2005. "Pursuing More Sustainable Consumption by Analyzing Household Metabolism in European Countries and Cities," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 9(1‐2), pages 259-275, January.
    5. McCalley, L. T. & Midden, Cees J. H., 2002. "Energy conservation through product-integrated feedback: The roles of goal-setting and social orientation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 589-603, October.
    6. Budya, Hanung & Yasir Arofat, Muhammad, 2011. "Providing cleaner energy access in Indonesia through the megaproject of kerosene conversion to LPG," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7575-7586.
    7. Camara, N'Famory & Xu, Deyi & Binyet, Emmanuel, 2017. "Understanding household energy use, decision making and behaviour in Guinea-Conakry by applying behavioural economics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1380-1391.
    8. Kowsari, Reza & Zerriffi, Hisham, 2011. "Three dimensional energy profile:," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7505-7517.
    9. Banfi, Silvia & Farsi, Mehdi & Filippini, Massimo & Jakob, Martin, 2008. "Willingness to pay for energy-saving measures in residential buildings," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 503-516, March.
    10. Foell, Wesley & Pachauri, Shonali & Spreng, Daniel & Zerriffi, Hisham, 2011. "Household cooking fuels and technologies in developing economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7487-7496.
    11. Zhang, Yan & Li, Shengsheng & Fath, Brian D. & Yang, Zhifeng & Yang, Naijin, 2011. "Analysis of an urban energy metabolic system: Comparison of simple and complex model results," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 223(1), pages 14-19.
    12. Monica Di Donato & Pedro L. Lomas & Óscar Carpintero, 2015. "Metabolism and Environmental Impacts of Household Consumption: A Review on the Assessment, Methodology, and Drivers," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 19(5), pages 904-916, October.
    13. Kwak, So-Yoon & Yoo, Seung-Hoon & Kwak, Seung-Jun, 2010. "Valuing energy-saving measures in residential buildings: A choice experiment study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 673-677, January.
    14. Howells, M. I. & Alfstad, T. & Victor, D. G. & Goldstein, G. & Remme, U., 2005. "A model of household energy services in a low-income rural African village," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(14), pages 1833-1851, September.
    15. Parikh, Jyoti, 2011. "Hardships and health impacts on women due to traditional cooking fuels: A case study of Himachal Pradesh, India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7587-7594.
    16. Antonio Barragán-Escandón & Julio Terrados-Cepeda & Esteban Zalamea-León, 2017. "The Role of Renewable Energy in the Promotion of Circular Urban Metabolism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-29, December.
    17. Biesiot, Wouter & Noorman, Klaas Jan, 1999. "Energy requirements of household consumption: a case study of The Netherlands," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 367-383, March.
    18. David N. Bristow & Christopher A. Kennedy, 2013. "Urban Metabolism and the Energy Stored in Cities," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 17(5), pages 656-667, October.
    19. Maes, Wouter H. & Verbist, Bruno, 2012. "Increasing the sustainability of household cooking in developing countries: Policy implications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 4204-4221.
    20. Zhang, Yan & Yang, Zhifeng & Fath, Brian D. & Li, Shengsheng, 2010. "Ecological network analysis of an urban energy metabolic system: Model development, and a case study of four Chinese cities," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(16), pages 1865-1879.
    21. Christopher Kennedy & John Cuddihy & Joshua Engel‐Yan, 2007. "The Changing Metabolism of Cities," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 11(2), pages 43-59, April.
    22. Jakob Lederer & Ulrich Kral, 2015. "Theodor Weyl: A Pioneer of Urban Metabolism Studies," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 19(5), pages 695-702, October.
    23. Benders, Rene M.J. & Kok, Rixt & Moll, Henri C. & Wiersma, Gerwin & Noorman, Klaas Jan, 2006. "New approaches for household energy conservation--In search of personal household energy budgets and energy reduction options," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(18), pages 3612-3622, December.
    24. Paul H. Brunner, 2007. "Reshaping Urban Metabolism," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 11(2), pages 11-13, April.
    25. Zhang, Yan & Zheng, Hongmei & Fath, Brian D., 2014. "Analysis of the energy metabolism of urban socioeconomic sectors and the associated carbon footprints: Model development and a case study for Beijing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 540-551.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Grabher, Harald F. & Erb, Karlheinz & Singh, Simron & Haberl, Helmut, 2024. "Household energy systems based on biomass: Tracing material flows from source to service in rural Ethiopia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    2. Oscar S. Santillán & Karla G. Cedano & Manuel Martínez, 2020. "Analysis of Energy Poverty in 7 Latin American Countries Using Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-19, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vanschoenwinkel, Janka & Lizin, Sebastien & Swinnen, Gilbert & Azadi, Hossein & Van Passel, Steven, 2014. "Solar cooking in Senegalese villages: An application of best–worst scaling," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 447-458.
    2. Andadari, Roos Kities & Mulder, Peter & Rietveld, Piet, 2014. "Energy poverty reduction by fuel switching. Impact evaluation of the LPG conversion program in Indonesia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 436-449.
    3. Zhang, Yan & Liu, Hong & Fath, Brian D., 2014. "Synergism analysis of an urban metabolic system: Model development and a case study for Beijing, China," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 272(C), pages 188-197.
    4. Heba Allah Essam E. Khalil & Ahmad Al‐Ahwal, 2021. "Reunderstanding Cairo through urban metabolism: Formal versus informal districts resource flow performance in fast urbanizing cities," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(1), pages 176-192, February.
    5. Liu, Ningyin & Zhang, Yan & Fath, Brian D., 2021. "The material metabolism characteristics and growth patterns of the central cities of China's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 448(C).
    6. Antonio Barragán-Escandón & Julio Terrados-Cepeda & Esteban Zalamea-León, 2017. "The Role of Renewable Energy in the Promotion of Circular Urban Metabolism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-29, December.
    7. Zhu, Xueting & Mu, Xianzhong & Hu, Guangwen, 2019. "Ecological network analysis of urban energy metabolic system—A case study of Beijing," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 404(C), pages 36-45.
    8. Kasparian, Jérôme, 2009. "Contribution of crude oil price to households' budget: The weight of indirect energy use," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 111-114, January.
    9. Lee, Soo Min & Kim, Yeon-Su & Jaung, Wanggi & Latifah, Sitti & Afifi, Mansur & Fisher, Larry A., 2015. "Forests, fuelwood and livelihoods—energy transition patterns in eastern Indonesia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 61-70.
    10. Yang, Dewei & Kao, William Tze Ming & Zhang, Guoqin & Zhang, Nanyang, 2014. "Evaluating spatiotemporal differences and sustainability of Xiamen urban metabolism using emergy synthesis," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 272(C), pages 40-48.
    11. Kerkhof, Annemarie C. & Benders, Ren M.J. & Moll, Henri C., 2009. "Determinants of variation in household CO2 emissions between and within countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1509-1517, April.
    12. Abrahamse, Wokje & Steg, Linda, 2009. "How do socio-demographic and psychological factors relate to households' direct and indirect energy use and savings?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 711-720, October.
    13. Fischbacher, Urs & Schudy, Simeon & Teyssier, Sabrina, 2021. "Heterogeneous preferences and investments in energy saving measures," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    14. Zhang, Yan & Zheng, Hongmei & Yang, Zhifeng & Su, Meirong & Liu, Gengyuan & Li, Yanxian, 2015. "Multi-regional input–output model and ecological network analysis for regional embodied energy accounting in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 651-663.
    15. Rockstuhl, Sebastian & Wenninger, Simon & Wiethe, Christian & Ahlrichs, Jakob, 2022. "The influence of risk perception on energy efficiency investments: Evidence from a German survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    16. Wang, Chengchao & Yang, Yusheng & Zhang, Yaoqi, 2012. "Rural household livelihood change, fuelwood substitution, and hilly ecosystem restoration: Evidence from China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2475-2482.
    17. Lianne Foti & Avis Devine, 2019. "High Involvement and Ethical Consumption: A Study of the Environmentally Certified Home Purchase Decision," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-11, September.
    18. Broberg, Thomas & Daniel, Aemiro Melkamu & Persson, Lars, 2021. "Household preferences for load restrictions: Is there an effect of pro-environmental framing?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    19. Ding, Wenguang & Wang, Lijun & Chen, Baoyu & Xu, Luan & Li, Haoxu, 2014. "Impacts of renewable energy on gender in rural communities of north-west China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 180-189.
    20. Felipe Encinas & Carlos Marmolejo-Duarte & Carlos Aguirre-Nuñez & Francisco Vergara-Perucich, 2020. "When Residential Energy Labeling Becomes Irrelevant: Sustainability vs. Profitability in the Liberalized Chilean Property Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-17, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:21:p:4125-:d:281410. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.