Appropriation de technologies pour la transition énergétique : apports de l’approche instrumentale pour la conception

Abstract

The current environmental, political, economic, and social context makes the management of energy resources, electricity in particular, a central issue. European energy policies require the deployment of smart grids to reduce energy consumption. From this strategy emerge smart-grid interfaces that allow households to consult their electricity consumption in near real-time. The underlying assumption is that information leads to action. However, this link is not automatic, and raises the question of the appropriation of these technologies. This paper proposes to study the process of appropriating smart-grid interfaces through the prism of the instrumental approach. A longitudinal study was conducted over 3 years (2016-2018) as part of the SOLENN experimental smart-grid, on a sample of 36 households. The aim was to answer the following questions: are smart-grid interfaces used? If so, how, for what purposes, and with what effect on electricity consumption? The results reveal the obstacles to appropriation, what encourages this process and how it has been achieved. The analysis also shows that, even if the use of interfaces leads to new knowledge, electricity consumption information alone is not sufficient to influence individual energy-saving behaviours. The findings suggest that we need a broader design of the technologies, and energy policies to a greater, for the instrumental genesis and the development of the individuals’ power to act in the energy transition field.

Keywords

• instrumental genesis
• energy transition
• power to act