Content area
Full text
Abstract
This paper critically assesses natural gas material culture barriers concentrating on physical obstacles (e.g. house characteristics, insulation levels, access, accessibility, installation difficulties, safety, and affordability of gas appliances) which may be preventing residential uptake of gas in New Zealand. Gaining an insight into these obstacles and consumer behaviours that drive investment decisions will assist in potential process improvements and marketing objectives to encourage gas substitution. The paper is based on a review guided by the theoretical lens of the Energy Cultures Framework (ECF) [24] and a survey sent to consumers who had in the past cancelled their gas applications. Findings indicate that barriers do exist, and different consumers experience different barriers (e.g. confusion about using natural gas, the complexity to connect to it, and the affordability of appliances). Principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation and k-means ++ clustering was used to reduce and cluster variables by fuel type, summated scales were employed to bring the two methods together. The main conclusion from this research is that there is a dual layer of reciprocal barriers (internal which are directly controllable by the distributor and external which are outside the direct control of the distributor).
1.Introduction
Peak demand is of vital importance to transmission and distribution companies in today's energy environment and is a significant contributor to infrastructure investment and consumer price increases. Peak demand refers to the highest demand point in a given trading period typically, New Zealand's market profile exhibits two daily peaks, the first occurring in the morning around 7 am, and the second in the evening happening around 7 pm. On occasions, the electric grid is pushed beyond these two daily peaks characteristically over the winter months June to August in New Zealand [26]. [26] States New Zealand's demand for electricity is around 40,000 gigawatt-hours per year with around two-thirds of that demand stemming from the North Island. Peak demand events occur a handful of times in any given year, and the requirement to cover these peak events drives grid investment specifically to meet critical coincident peaks [12].
Natural Gas (gas) provides a substantial contribution to New Zealand's energy supply supporting electrical generation and as a mass-market energy choice. Gas is only available in the North Island of New Zealand...