Search results

In France, as in other countries, the idea of installing rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels in private homes is based on an incentive scheme (tax advantages, feed-in tariffs, etc.) inspired by neoclassical economic theory. In the case of electricity producers in Reunion Island, unlike economists, we argue that producers’ calculations involve decision-making criteria which go further than any simple evaluation of economic costs and benefits.

Our approach is based on concepts of economic anthropology and on observations and semi-structured interviews conducted in the homes of the producers.

This ethnographic method allowed us to examine economic rationalities which revealed the anticipation of an energy landscape that will be subject to issues relating to the environment, access to electricity, evolution in the local electricity market, and household budget management. In this context, producers’ representations of solar power and of processes for commoditizing and decommoditizing the electricity produced (sold on the network/“free” when consumed) make compatible preservation of the environment and social norms of consumption.

This paper focuses on PV energy producers (who have been the object of very little research) and thus provides input for existing reflection on the diversity of economic rationalities. Such insight is important for understanding how people respond to policy appeals for PV panels. Anthropology therefore has an important role to play in the debate on energy transition. This conclusion paves the way for similar research in other contexts (of a non-insular nature in particular) which would allow for a promising comparative anthropological approach.

Technological progress is a determining factor in the factors leading to economic and social well-being. Simultaneously, the development of a sustainable economy is based on the conservation of resources. In the energy sector, this fact can be corroborated with the reduction of energy consumption, thus increasing economic efficiency. On the one hand, improving energy efficiency contributes to increasing the quality of life, productivity, and, implicitly, the economy, but on the other hand, it leads to excess energy use – this behavioral change is known as rebound. The research estimates the rebound effect at the macroeconomic level for European countries in the period 2000–2019, referring the analysis to each country's gross domestic product (GDP) and energy consumption, as well as comparing the preaccession and postaccession periods of Romania in the EU space. The rebound effect is determined using multidimensional analysis methods, depending on the GDP of each country as well as the behavior of each in the use of energy resources in industry, agriculture, and services. Although the study results confirm the strong link between energy consumption and GDP at the level of each state, they did not show considerable changes between countries at the level of the two periods.