Enable

What do prosumers look like across Europe?

Different things motivate prosumers in different countries. The UK and Italy have a long history of financial incentives (feed-in tariffs) that help motivate people to install solar panels in their homes. In Ukraine and Norway, on the other hand, the number of prosumers is still relatively low, possibly because financial incentives have been introduced only recently and tend to be more modest.

How does gender impact prosumption?

Energy policies are often formulated to be gender-neutral, the underlying assumption being that men and women will respond to and benefit equally from them. Yet research has shown that there are important gender differences in the motivations and barriers to adopting energy-saving technologies.

How can we motivate people to become prosumers?

Most people invest in these systems for financial or environmental reasons, though this varies by country. Some also become prosumers because of professional or technological interests. Because people’s motivations vary, we need to have a policy that combines different policy tools, considers a range of motivations, and makes prosuming accessible to all consumers.

What influences heat consumption?

Energy consumption and heating costs are mostly influenced by the physical attributes of dwellings (type, age and size), and the number of household members living in them. Although the insulation of homes and the controllability of temperature are important prerequisites for achieving energy savings, no evidence of their cost-reducing effect could be detected in our database.

When are people most likely to use their cars?

The most frequently performed trips are the ones to the workplace and for shopping. Private vehicles are used by more than half of the people for both destinations. People tend to use their cars more when they combine multiple destinations than when they go directly from home.