Fostering Sustainability Using Information Technology: Real-Time Feedback, Incentives, and Smart Markets
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Author
Date
2020Type
- Doctoral Thesis
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yes
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Abstract
Despite growing public attention and policy efforts for environmental sustainability, world-wide energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are still increasing (International Energy Agency, 2020a). Technological advances have enabled improvements in energy efficiency, and hundreds of billions of US dollars are being invested in renewable energy generation every year (International Energy Agency, 2020a), however, actually implement- ing these technologies requires changes to commercial practices, regulatory frameworks, and market structures. The replacement of conventional energy generation by renew- able resources is advancing rather slowly (International Energy Agency, 2020b), as their integration requires a fundamental transition in the energy sector. Energy that was traditionally supplied by few power plants is now generated in smaller, distributed renewable generators that are not centrally controlled. The resulting growing number of stakeholders and increasing volatility in supply challenges existing market structures, as well as the grid infrastructure. Beyond technological and structural aspects, human behavior is what ultimately drives energy consumption and the adoption of renewable technologies. Consumer choices have a massive impact on resource use, as residential households consume more than 20% of the worldwide total final energy consumption (International Energy Agency, 2020a). Likewise, personal transportation makes up roughly the same amount in most countries (eurostat, 2017; International Energy Agency, 2020a). However, empirical data and research studies reveal a persistent gap between individuals’ intentions for environmentally-friendly behavior and their actual energy consumption and associated emissions.
Information and communication technology can play a pivotal role in advancing the energy transition. Ubiquitous connected devices and the data they capture can be useful tools to identify inefficient consumption patterns or the potential for investments in new technologies. By capturing, analyzing, and evaluating energy data in high granularity, information technology can support sustainable practices – not only on a macro- or organizational level, but also on the individual level. Yet, given the recency and fast pace of technological progress in this area, existing research has mostly focused on the technical capabilities of information and communication technologies in environmental contexts. There is a lack of empirical and applicable knowledge on the impact of such ‘green’ information systems in the real world.
To tackle this issue, this thesis examines different ways in which information technology can foster sustainability in the real world, a) among individual consumers and b) in integrating renewable energy resources into the energy market. To that end, state-of-the-art information systems designed in conceptual studies are deployed in field experiments. In the studies presented, a smart metering device, a blockchain system, and an autonomous intelligent agent are designed based on recent work from the computer science discipline. To understand the behavioral effects in real-world settings, field experiments are conducted. The design and implementation of these field experiments builds on theories from psychology and economics research. Herein, the work presented in this thesis compliments conceptual research on information systems (IS) with a social-science perspective and empirical validations.
This dissertation demonstrates that information systems can indeed spur the energy transition and foster sustainability, both on the individual consumer level and on the market level. The findings from large-scale field experiments generate novel empirical insights and contribute to the impact-oriented work on green information systems. A multi-disciplinary approach leveraging state-of-the-art technologies (blockchain technol- ogy, agent-based simulation, and reinforcement learning) and testing them in the field expands existing conceptual knowledge to a more holistic understanding. The research presented shows that, by incorporating behavioral factors and economic incentives, information systems can induce energy conservation in the real world and encourage renewable energy generation – and thus tackle some of the wicked problems of our time. Show more
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https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000452846Publication status
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ETH ZurichOrganisational unit
03681 - Fleisch, Elgar / Fleisch, Elgar
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