Browsing by Author "Robinson, Marguerite"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    An agent-based model for energy service companies
    (Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2015-04-01T00:00:00Z) Robinson, Marguerite; Varga, Liz; Allen, Peter
    The residential housing sector is a major consumer of energy accounting for approximately one third of carbon emissions in the United Kingdom. Achieving a sustainable, low-carbon infrastructure necessitates a reduced and more efficient use of domestic energy supplies. Energy service companies offer an alternative to traditional providers, which supply a single utility product to satisfy the unconstrained demand of end users, and have been identified as a potentially important actor in sustainable future economies. An agent-based model is developed to examine the potential of energy service companies to contribute to the large scale upgrading of household energy efficiency, which would ultimately lead to a more sustainable and secure energy infrastructure. The migration of households towards energy service companies is described by an attractiveness array, through which potential customers can evaluate the future benefits, in terms of household energy costs, of changing provider. It is shown that self-financing is a limiting factor to the widespread upgrading of residential energy efficiency. Greater reductions in household energy costs could be achieved by committing to longer term contracts, allowing upgrade costs to be distributed over greater time intervals. A steadily increasing cost of future energy usage lends an element of stability to the market, with energy service companies displaying the ability to retain customers on contract expiration. The model highlights how a greater focus on the provision of energy services, as opposed to consumable products, presents a viable approach to reducing future energy costs and usage.
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    Multi-utility service companies: a complex systems model of increasing resource efficiency
    (Wiley, 2015-06-19) Varga, Liz; Robinson, Marguerite; Allen, Peter
    Domestic households account for a significant portion of energy consumption and carbon emissions in the United Kingdom. Gains in energy and resource efficiency are undermined by the continuing rise in consumption. A multiutility service company (MUSCo) could enable households to make efficiency improvements through energy technologies and demand management, thus reducing overall consumption. We present a system dynamics model for the domestic energy demand and supply system in the United Kingdom, in which MUSCos compete with traditional utility providers. The market transition toward a leasing contracted service is examined and various potential business models explored.
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    Sustainability from household and infrastructure innovations
    (Springer, 2021-06-21) Allen, Peter; Butans, Eugene; Robinson, Marguerite; Varga, Liz
    In this paper, we look at the impact of different possible changes and innovations in the national/regional infrastructure and of individual households on the reduction of their material ‘footprint’ and carbon emissions. We have developed an ‘agent-based model’ (ABM) that explores the impact of possible changes in regional infrastructure and in ‘household agent’ behaviour and lifestyles. We study households of the UK, Germany, Spain and Finland, and calculate the overall effects of the diffusion of such changes and innovations. The ‘lifestyle’ of households is divided into four different ‘Domains’—Living, Food, Mobility and Energy. For each change, the model shows the linked effects of adoption, and total household input requirements (materials, energy etc.), household and food wastes and CO2 emissions. This informs policy concerning which modifications will be most effective. We can also estimate approximately how much ‘clean’ electricity will be needed in each country for household needs and their electric vehicles